Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that he has chosen Nicole Shanahan, a California high-tech lawyer, entrepreneur and political newcomer, as his running mate.
Mr. Shanahan, who has never held or run for public office, is typical of the nontraditional choice Mr. Kennedy has said he would bring to the White House if his long-term goal of becoming president is successful. Should the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket win, the 38-year-old vice president would be the second-youngest vice president in history.
“My most important partner was a young person, and Nicole was only 38,” Kennedy said when introducing Shanahan. “I want Nicole to be an advocate for the growing number of Millennial and Gen Z Americans who have lost faith in their future and pride in our country.”
Kennedy called Shanahan “a daughter of immigrants who, against all odds, went on to achieve the highest level of the American Dream.” He added that she is “a fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, engineer, and a terrible mother.”
After Kennedy's remarks, Shanahan was introduced to the crowd by a biographical video.
“What young people are facing today is completely unprecedented,” Shanahan said in the video. “And addressing the issues at hand will require a new generation of leaders who deeply understand these threats because they are technologists themselves. You're going to need leadership that understands what questions to ask, how to ask them, and what happens when you execute your plan.”
President Kennedy made the announcement at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland, where Shanahan grew up and where current Vice President Kamala Harris was born. Shanahan was born in Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento.
While the location is designed to emphasize Mr. Shanahan's roots, it also covers six to eight “battleground states” considered likely to determine whether President Biden wins re-election, as well as the Kennedy It also appeared to indicate that he intended to go to every state in search of votes. Or will he be succeeded by former President Trump?
President Kennedy's choice of running mate drew attention two weeks ago after it was reported that he had discussed the job with NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura.
Less than a week later, Mediaite announced that Kennedy had decided to replace Mr. Shanahan, who had helped design and pay for the candidate's television ads that aired during last month's Super Bowl. It was reported that.
With that $4 million investment, Shanahan emerged as a key donor to the Kennedy campaign. The ad drew considerable attention as it featured an image and jingle from the 1960 presidential campaign of President Kennedy's uncle, the late John F. Kennedy.
Some members of the Kennedy family expressed disdain for the ad, with the eldest son of former Atty. General Robert F. Kennedy does not reflect his family's values, particularly in his frequently expressed skepticism about the value of vaccines.
Kennedy suggested Tuesday that Shanahan would help him fight “corporate kleptocracy” and government regulators who have become mere “sock puppets” for American companies. He said her background in technology will be particularly helpful in combating the unchecked power of big technology.
President Kennedy said Shanahan shared his “outrage at the presence of big technology companies as partners in the censorship, surveillance, and information warfare that our government is currently waging against the American people.”
The Kennedy campaign has signaled more campaigning in California this weekend, with the candidate scheduled to appear in Los Angeles to celebrate the birthday of labor and civil rights icon Cesar Chavez.
Kennedy will be joined by former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, a chaotic figure who has alienated other county elected leaders and civilian overseers appointed to ensure a fair police force. After four years, he lost his job in 2022. The polarizing politician, who recently lost his primary race to Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, said he endorsed Kennedy several months ago.
Villanueva told the Times in an email that he supports independents because “the vast majority of voters are tired of both Biden and Trump.” He added: “RFK Jr. represents a promising future that puts the interests of the people above the interests of the party. That's why we emphasize We The People.”
It is unclear at this time whether Mr. Shanahan will accompany Mr. Kennedy on his visit to Los Angeles, where he lives, or whether he will campaign alone.
Even before President Kennedy formally announced his nomination on Tuesday, it became clear that Shanahan would be asked to answer for some of his past radical comments. A political action committee representing Asians and Pacific Islanders last year criticized President Kennedy's speculation that the coronavirus “appears to be ethnically targeted,” sparing Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews. denounced it in an email to the media.
The head of the AAPI Victory Fund said the choice of Shanahan, whose mother was born in China to President Kennedy, should not be used to “debunk” his “deeply racist conspiracy theories” about the impact of the coronavirus. He said no.
In a previous interview, Shanahan spoke about growing up with a mother who recently immigrated from China and a father who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Neither of her parents had regular jobs, she said, and she went to work at age 12, working around tables.
But Ms. Shanahan said she carved out a path for herself, starting at the University of Puget Sound in Seattle and working as a paralegal in Seattle and China before becoming a student at Santa Clara University School of Law.
Shanahan was not yet 30 years old when he founded ClearAccessIP, a company that uses software to help companies manage and distribute patents and patent rights. Another Silicon Valley company, IPwe, acquired Shanahan's company in 2020.
Shanahan's public profile expanded significantly with her 2018 marriage to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, one of the world's richest men. The couple have a daughter, Echo, and Shanahan founded the Via Echo Foundation in 2019 to overhaul criminal justice and commit $100 million over five years to programs to help women trying to conceive later in life. announced. Strengthen systems and address the impacts of climate change.
As Ms. Shanahan herself struggled to have children, the issue of childbirth became a central issue for her. She then began focusing on autism when Echo was diagnosed as falling on the autism spectrum.
RFK Jr.'s campaign sold advance tickets for Tuesday's event for just $2. Donors of $500 or more were invited to a “special post-announcement reception.” The campaign said the media would not be welcome at the reception.
If Shanahan is elected vice president, he would be the second-youngest person to hold the office. The youngest vice president. John C. Breckinridge was a Kentucky native who was elected in 1856 to the House of Representatives and the Senate alongside President James Buchanan at the age of 36. (Breckinridge ran for president in 1860 under the Southern Democratic banner and came in third runner-up. The winners were Republican Abraham Lincoln and Northern Democratic representative Stephen A. Douglas).
Times staff writer Benjamin Oreskes contributed to this report.
