Kennedy Shakes Up Presidential Race with Radical Progressive Tech Entrepreneur VP Pick

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), the independent presidential candidate, announced Tuesday that Nicole Shanahan, a wealthy attorney and entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay Area, will join his campaign as his vice presidential pick.

Shanahan, who has never run for office, has contributed to Kennedy’s campaign and SuperPAC.

Kennedy made the news during a ceremony in Shanahan’s hometown, Oakland.

He explained his selection, stating that he wanted to run with a young athlete from a diverse background and highlighting Shanahan’s skills in technology and campaigning.

“I am confident that there’s no American more qualified to play this role than Nicole Shanahan.”

Shanahan screamed against the Democratic Party throughout her speech, claiming that the organization “has lost its way” and that she was formally leaving it behind.

She also focused on concerns about the U.S. food supply, which was a top Kennedy cause, and expressed skepticism about medicine and vaccines, claiming that no safety study “can assess the cumulative impact of one prescription after another after another, one shot after another and another, throughout the course of childhood.” At one point, she expressed alarm about “electromagnetic pollution,” which fueled a conspiracy theory regarding the health implications of 5G and Wi-Fi radiation.

“This independent movement comes at a time of extreme division in America that threatens to tear this country apart,” he remarked. “It is time for a re-alignment. It is time, as Bobby Kennedy says, to focus on our unifying values rather than our divisions.”

“Take a close look at his vision for America,” she said. “It is a vision that I share too as I back his campaign, and focus the next seven months of my life getting him on each and every ballot in this country!”

Kennedy’s pick comes at a critical juncture in his campaign. Independent presidential candidates must traverse varied laws to get on the ballot state by state, which typically entails gathering thousands of petition signatures. However, in more than half of the states, independents must file their nomination papers with a named running partner, and some of those deadlines are soon approaching.

Even though it remains unclear where Kennedy will appear on the ballot, he is polling higher than other third-party candidates. And, while the findings can vary depending on how various surveys approach the question, they imply he could play a substantial influence in key swing states if he appears on the ballot this November.

In Arizona, Bloomberg/Morning Consult and Fox News polls from this month show him with double-digit support. A Quinnipiac University survey from earlier this month shows him receiving double-digit support in Michigan, as well as in Pennsylvania. In North Carolina, a Marist College survey found 11% of registered voters supporting Kennedy.

“Our campaign is a spoiler. I agree with that,” Kennedy stated. “It’s a spoiler for President Biden and for President Trump. It’s a spoiler for the war machine. It’s a spoiler for Wall St., Big Ag, Big Telecom, Big Pharma, and corporate-owned media.”

Following the announcement, both Trump and Biden supporters targeted Kennedy. Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for the pro-Trump SuperPAC MAGA Inc., blasted Kennedy as “a far-left radical” and said it was “no surprise he would pick a Biden donor leftist as his running mate.”

During his vice presidential quest, Kennedy evaluated several candidates, including New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, former Minnesota Governor and lunatic Jesse Ventura, former Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard, and television host Mike Rowe. Rowe detailed Kennedy’s interview with NBC News, saying he went over key policy ideas and defended his anti-vaccine views.

However, according to the sources, Kennedy eventually settled on Shanahan, who had previously worked on an eye-catching Super Bowl ad supporting Kennedy in February.

Shanahan told The New York Times that she helped create the advertisement and donated $4 million to the SuperPAC American Values 2024 last month to promote it. According to federal campaign finance records, Planeta Management LLC, which shares the name with her venture fund, Planeta Ventures, contributed $4 million to the SuperPAC on January 31.

However, joining Kennedy’s ticket looks to open the door for Shanahan to pump her own cash directly into the campaign rather than through an outside entity, allowing Kennedy to use the funds for important objectives such as gathering petition signatures for ballot access.

According to Federal Election Commission guidelines, vice presidential candidates can donate unlimited funds to their campaigns, just like presidential candidates, as long as the ticket does not seek public assistance.

Shanahan, a tech lawyer and entrepreneur turned philanthropist, has spent his life in California alongside some of the industry’s most prominent figures.

She founded ClearAccessIP, a company that, according to its website, uses artificial intelligence technologies to assist patent holders in managing their intellectual property. IPwe purchased the company in 2020.

She married Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, in 2018 and divorced him in 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported that she had an affair with billionaire Elon Musk, but both Shanahan and Musk disputed the allegations.

“The WSJ’s narrative that an affair with Elon Musk led to the end of my marriage was about as accurate as claiming that the body heat of polar bears is responsible for the melting of the Arctic ice caps,” Shanahan wrote in a 2023 People magazine piece. “It felt senseless and cruel.”

Shanahan’s organization, the Bia-Echo organization, states its mission is to “create a multiplying effect” on causes that are important to him, such as “reproductive longevity & equality, criminal justice reform, and a healthy & livable planet.”

Shanahan has an autistic daughter and has lately supported research into the disorder’s causes, and she told the New York Times in February that her support for Kennedy was prompted in part by concerns about children’s health and the environment, especially vaccines. Does this mean the Bidenites are going to start calling her an anti-Vaxxer?

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