RFK Jr Announces Running Mate
Robert F Kennedy Jr., son of Bobby Kennedy, the former attorney general and senator and brother to JFK, announced his independent candidacy on October 9, 2023.
While he was previously known for his work as a fierce environmental lawyer fighting large companies, in more recent years he has become infamous for his anti-vaccine views, regularly claiming that vaccines cause Autism Spectrum Disorder and varying negative health effects.
His running mate was announced as Nicole Shanahan, a lawyer for multiple tech industries. She helped fund his Superbowl commercial and was previously married to Google cofounder Sergey Brin.
His shortlist for the position also included former pro wrestler and governor Jesse Ventura, and NFL player Aaron Rodgers, which elicited mockery from many people.
With the announcement of his candidate, RFK is hoping to clear some of the hurdles for getting his name on state ballots, which has been a struggle for many independent candidates over the years.
While many haven’t taken his campaign seriously, he has consistently polled around ten percent when put up in a three-way poll with Trump and Biden. This has caused Democrats to fight his admission onto state ballots and ramp up their attacks on Kennedy, fearing him as a spoiler allowing Trump to regain office.
RFK Jr. hasn’t remained silent about these attacks, recently calling Biden a greater threat to democracy than Trump, as well as floating the idea of creating a special counsel if elected to investigate whether the investigation into the January 6 riot was an insurrection and whether the rioters were politically prosecuted.
