RFK jnr picks Nicole Shanahan, Sergey Brin’s ex-wife, as running mate

Washington: Robert F Kennedy jnr has chosen Nicole Shanahan to be his vice presidential pick as he mounts an independent White House bid that has spooked national Democrats.

Shanahan, 38, the former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, is a California lawyer and philanthropist who has never held elected office. Shanahan leads Bia-Echo Foundation, an organisation she founded to direct money towards issues including women’s reproductive science, criminal justice reform and environmental causes.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. right, waves on stage with Nicole Shanahan, after announcing her as his running mate.Credit: AP

“Nicole and I both left the Democratic Party,” Kennedy, the nephew of former president John F Kennedy and son of ex-attorney-general Robert Kennedy, said. “Our values didn’t change. The Democratic Party did.”

“I’m so proud to introduce to you the next vice president of the United States, my fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom, Nicole Shanahan,” Kennedy said.

Shanahan was introduced via a video that touched on her tough upbringing in Oakland, her father’s substance abuse, her success at Stanford University and the moment when she discovered her young child suffered from autism.

Brin broke off a long friendship with Tesla founder Elon Musk over Musk’s romantic relationship with Shanahan, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2022. Musk and Shanahan both denied such a relationship.

Tesla founder Elon Musk, left, reportedly had an affair with Nicole Shanahan, pictured right with then-husband and Google co-founder Sergey Brin.Credit: Getty

Shanahan said she was drawn to Kennedy in part because of their shared commitment to health.

“There is no other candidate for president who takes the chronic disease epidemic as seriously as Robert F. Kennedy jnr and I will be his ally in making our nation healthy again,” she said.

She said she blamed environmental causes for America’s poor health, citing pollution in waterways, electromagnetic waves in mobile phones and “poisons” in America’s food supply chain and medicines.

Without the backing of a party, Kennedy faces an arduous task to be included on the ballot, with varying rules across the 50 states. He’s picking a running mate now because about half of the states require him to designate one before he can apply for ballot access.

Nicole Shanahan speaks during a campaign event for presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy jnr.Credit: AP

Kennedy began his campaign as a primary challenge to Biden but later said he’d run as an independent instead.

He was a teenager when his father, known as RFK, was assassinated during his presidential campaign in 1968. He built a reputation of his own as an activist, author and lawyer who fought for environmental causes such as clean water.

Along the way, activism has veered into conspiracies and contradicted scientific consensus, most infamously on vaccines. Some members of his family have publicly criticised his views. Dozens of Kennedy family members sent a message when they posed with Biden at a St Patrick’s Day reception at the White House in a photo his sister Kerry Kennedy posted to social media.

An anti-vaccine group Kennedy led has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organisations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by acting to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines.

Democrats fear the campaign by Robert F Kennedy Jr could hurt US President Joe Biden.Credit: AP

Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.

He is leveraging a network of loyal supporters built over years, many of them drawn to his anti-vaccine activism and his message that the US government is beholden to corporations.

The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, is gearing up to take on Kennedy and other third-party candidates. Many Democrats blame Green Party candidates for Al Gore’s loss to George W. Bush in 2000 and Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump in 2016.

Kennedy’s campaign has spooked Democrats, who fear it could draw support from President Joe Biden and help Trump.

Kennedy is backed by 15 per cent of registered voters, versus 39 per cent for Biden and 38 per cent for Trump, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.

AP, Reuters

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