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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has picked wealthy Silicon Valley lawyer Nicole Shanahan as his running mate, he announced Tuesday.
“I’m bringing on someone with deep inside knowledge of how big tech uses AI to manipulate the public,” Kennedy said at a rally in Oakland, where Shanahan grew up. “I want a partner with strong ideas about how to reverse those dire threats to democracy and our freedoms.”
Kennedy’s running mate choice comes at a pivotal point in his campaign as he seeks to secure a place on the ballot nationwide and continue financing his long-shot bid for the White House. In recent weeks he had floated attention-grabbing potential running mates in NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, “Dirty Jobs” star Mike Rowe, and former WWE wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura. He opted to go with Shanahan, who runs a private foundation focused on chronic diseases, reproductive rights, criminal justice, and the environment, and was once married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
“The purpose of wealth is to help those in need,” said Shanahan, who was raised on welfare and food stamps in a single-parent household. “I want to bring that back to politics too. That is the purpose of privilege.”
Shanahan, 38, has no political experience but offers substantial financial firepower and valuable connections in the tech industry. In February, she gave $4 million to a Kennedy-aligned Super PAC for a controversial 30-second Super Bowl ad in support of Kennedy’s candidacy. The ad, which she helped produce, was criticized by several members of Kennedy’s family for repurposing a 1960 campaign ad for his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy. Shanahan has also previously donated to Democratic candidates and causes, including $25,000 to President Joe Biden’s fundraising committee in 2020, $19,400 to the Democratic National Committee that same year, and to the past campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Marianne Williamson, and Pete…
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