Lawyer and investor Nicole Shanahan is among the possible contenders to be independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, his campaign suggested over the weekend.
In a lengthy post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Kennedy’s campaign director and daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox, responded to the swirling rumors that Kennedy tapped Shanahan as his running mate, noting Shanahan has been brought up in conversations while declining to reveal Kennedy’s choice.
“Oh boy, this media! They were sure about Aaron, now they’re sure about Nicole. Tomorrow they’ll be sure about somebody else. The truth is, they’re just going to have to wait until we all get to celebrate Bobby’s brilliant running-mate together in ten days,” Fox wrote on X last Saturday.
“While I can’t share a name, I will say that I could not be more thrilled with Bobby’s decision. He ran a thorough process and has chosen a Vice President who is truly worthy of the American people.”
Fox was referencing New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a fellow vaccine skeptic who is on the independent candidate’s shortlist for vice president, his campaign confirmed to The Hill last week. The campaign also told The Hill former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is among the picks, confirming The New York Times’s initial report last week that broke the news.
In the wake of a Mediaite report last Saturday that Kennedy planned to pick Shanahan as his vice president, Fox said the Bay Area lawyer was a part of Kennedy’s “VP discernment process.”
“Nicole Shanahan has indeed been among those conversations on behalf of honest governance, racial equity, regenerative agriculture and children’s and maternal health,” Fox said. “Her decade-long focus on safeguarding our democracy against the dangers of [artificial intelligence] and leveraging it instead to detect government corruption and abuses on behalf of the people — this is a crucial knowledge base that our current leaders in Washington lack.”
Shanahan is a California lawyer and the former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. She was brought into Kennedy’s orbit last month when reports revealed she helped pay for Kennedy’s seven-figure Super Bowl advertisement.
“Nicole, 37, Aaron, 40, and several unnamed others have been particularly compelling candidates for Bobby because of his strong commitment to champion the interests of young people — and to start by ensuring they have real seats at a table so often dominated by ancient career politicians whose choices have bankrupted future generations,” she said.
The Hill reached out to one of Shanahan’s organizations and Kennedy’s campaign for further comment.
Fox also pointed to Kennedy’s other potential vice presidential picks including TV host and activist Mike Rowe and Tricia Lindsay, who has fought against vaccine mandates. His campaign last week told The Hill other possible selections include Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-Hawaii), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
Kennedy is slated to announce his pick at an event in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 26.
He initially launched his White House bid under a Democratic ticket but became an independent last fall. He has said he does not align with Democrats ideologically but also does not completely fit with Republicans. Kennedy has shored up enough signatures to make the ballot in New Hampshire, Utah, Hawaii and Nevada, and his super PAC claimed it has enough support for the ballots in Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina.
According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s national polling average of three-way match-ups with President Biden and former President Trump — who both passed the threshold of delegates to win their parties’ nominations — Trump leads with 41.1 percent support, Biden comes in second with 38.6 percent, and Kennedy falls behind at 10.8 percent.
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