Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy has been having conversations with contenders for months about his vice presidential pick – who he plans to announce Tuesday from Oakland, California.
He assembled a ‘colorful group’ of about 10 people to serve on his VP Select Committee, according to 25-year-old Link Lauren, who serves as the campaign’s youngest senior adviser and boasts more than 450,000 followers on TikTok.
Lauren, a member of that committee, told DailyMail.com that Kennedy interviewed candidates from ‘both sides of the aisle from all different walks of life.’
‘And then Bobby made the final decision. And we’re all excited for it,’ the prominent TikTokker said in an interview Thursday.
Bay Area lawyer Nicole Shanahan, 38, seems to be the most plausible pick, but Kennedy also courted New York Jets play Aaron Rodgers, 40 – who’s also from Northern California – as well as past Democratic presidential hopefuls Andrew Yang, 49, and ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, 42.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left) poses by his youngest campaign senior adviser Link Lauren (right), 25, who has become a huge presence on political TikTok. Lauren was among the group tapped to help find Kennedy a running mate
Millionaire Bay Area lawyer Nicole Shanahan has become the most probable pick for Robert F. Kennedy’s running mate. The ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin financed Kennedy’s Super Bowl commercial and has done work in the tech, healthcare and now politics space
The Kennedy campaign also courted former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who’s a dark horse candidate to become Republican former President Donald Trump’s VP and Andrew Yang, who ran as a Democrat for president in 2020 touting universal basic income
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (left) was also considered to be RFK’s (right) vice president. Some of Rodgers’ more controversial statements reported on by CNN, however, put his potential bid in danger
Both Yang and Gabbard are being tight-lipped about their prospects.
DailyMail.com confirmed that Yang was asked – but could not confirm that the former Democratic hopeful said yes.
Because of Kennedy’s independent status the presidential candidate needs to pick a running mate imminently so that he can appear on the ballot in more than 20 states.
Kennedy’s campaign confirmed that Shanahan and Rodgers were being considered after The New York Times reported on March 12 that Kennedy had been in touch with Rodgers – as well as ex-wrestler and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura – as potential running mates.
The Ventura chatter quickly died out after Kennedy said he had already made his decision and the individual had agreed to appear on the ticket.
Meanwhile, Ventura’s son told The Times that no offer was made. ‘No one has officially asked Gov. Ventura to be a vice-presidential candidate so the governor does not comment on speculation,’ he said.
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, pictured when he was first elected to the role, was a pro wrestler before entering politics and was briefly mentioned as a potential running mate for RFK Jr.
At the same time, some of Rodgers’ reported viewpoints were quickly scrutinized.
CNN reported that Rodgers had shared ‘deranged conspiracy theories’ about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, including that the grieving parents of the children are ‘actors.’
Rodgers responded to CNN’s report on X saying, ‘I am not and have never been of the opinion that the events did not take place,’ calling the mass shooting an ‘absolute tragedy.’
Two days later, Mediaite reported that Shanahan was Kennedy’s pick.
Shanahan’s multiple degrees and work at the intersection of tech, law and healthcare had been previously overshadowed by her divorce from Google co-founer Sergey Brinn and allegations hurled at her by the Wall Street Journal that an affair with Elon Musk killed her marriage.
Shanahan and Musk have both vehemently denied they were ever an item.
‘Did Elon and I have sex, like it was a moment of passion, and then it was over? No,’ she told People Magazine in July. ‘Did we have a romantic relationship? No. We didn’t have an affair.’
Shanahan’s (left) multiple degrees and work at the intersection of tech, law and healthcare were previously overshadowed by her divorce from Google co-founer Sergey Brinn (right) and allegations hurled by the Wall Street Journal that an affair with Elon Musk killed her marriage
Shanahan said she and Musk talked about ‘how I might think about helping my daughter with her autism treatment, given his background with Neuralink.’
‘It was a conversation that was very meaningful about life and how people show up for one another,’ the potential VP pick continued. ‘To be painted with such a massive scarlet letter for it just seems so unfair.’
Kennedy has been one of the loudest voices in the United States falsely pushing that autism is caused by vaccines. Scientists have not discovered a credible link.
Shanahan told The New York Times in February that she’s ‘not an anti-vaxxer’ but there needs to be ‘space to have these conversations.’
She donated $4 million to the Kennedy-aligned super PAC American Values 2024 to fund a Super Bowl ad for the independent presidential candidate.
The ad, which used visuals and music from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 campaign spot, angered members of the Kennedy family, prompting RFK Jr. to apologize.
Shanahan, who describes herself as a ‘progressive’ and is a Democratic donor, told The Times she wasn’t pleased when Kennedy announced in October that he would pull out of the running for the Democratic nomination and run in the general election as an independent instead.
Shanahan donated $4 million to the Kennedy-aligned super PAC to help finance the independent candidate’s Super Bowl ad, which used music and visuals from a 1960 ad for President John F. Kennedy, his late uncle
She was ‘incredibly disappointed’ she told the paper, but came back around to Kennedy in the following months due to meeting people who were ‘really revved up’ about his candidacy.
‘There are pockets of silent support all over the place,’ she said.
Upon the Shanahan news getting out, Kennedy’s campaign manager, his daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, confirmed the 38-year-old lawyer was in the running in a long post on X on Saturday.
‘Oh boy, this media! They were sure about Aaron, now they’re sure about Nicole. Tomorrow they’ll be sure about somebody else,’ Fox Kennedy said.
On top of Rodgers and Shanahan, Fox Kennedy also confirmed that the campaign had talked to former Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe as a potential VP hopeful, as well as Tricia Lindsay, a civil rights attorney who fought against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Rowe had talked to NBC days before about the process – suggesting that he had sat in front of the committee of which TikTok star Lauren is a member.
He divulged that Kennedy was looking to build a ‘team of rivals’ around him and seemed unfazed when the television host brought up that he had worked for some of the same energy producers that Kennedy went after when he was working as an environmental lawyer.
Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs fame, was one of the unconventional candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talked to when looking for a running mate
Yang (left) had backed the campaign of Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips (right), who until recently was the only individual with government experience looking to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. Phillips dropped out after Super Tuesday
Then Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (right) supported the insurgent candidacy of progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, who tried to win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 over the more mainstream Hillary Clinton. She has since become a darling of Trump’s MAGA movement
‘The funny thing through all of it was I, I must have reminded him a dozen times that I’m probably not your guy,’ Rowe told the network. ‘We don’t agree on this. We don’t agree on that. Look, I’m in business with people in the energy business who he’s sued multiple times over the years. And he laughed and said, “Yeah, I know that. I just don’t believe I’m going to find anyone who agrees with me on every single thing. And I really like what you stand for.’
Rowe neither confirmed or denied that he was offered the job, NBC said.
On Monday, CNN reported that Tony Robbins, a prominent life coach, had been one of the first people approached by Kennedy as a possible VP chioce.
Robbins expressed to Kennedy, a source said, that the timing wasn’t right with both business and personal commitments.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy campaign also gave the network a trio of names that are more traditional fits for the role: Sen. Rand Paul, Gabbard and Yang.
Politico had already burst the Paul bubble, with the Libertarian-leaning Republican senator’s people saying the lawmaker would not accept such an offer.
Gabbard’s spokesperson ignored requests for comment Thursday and Friday from DailyMail.com.
She’s also a dark horse candidate to become former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick in a political evolution that saw her as a surrogate for progressive Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid, running as a Democrat herself in 2020, and then crossing party lines to become a favorite at the Conservative Political Action Conference and among the MAGA faithful.
Yang, who heralds from New York – not the Bay Area – centered his campaign in 2020 around the idea of a universal basic income and earlier this year was backing the campaign of Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, President Joe Biden’s only challenger who had governmental experience.
Phillips dropped out of the race after Super Tuesday.
Puck first reported that Yang had been called by Kennedy as part of the veepstakes process.
Yang declined to comment for the piece but sources told Puck said that he was non-commital on the call.