RFK Jr. eyes quarterback Rodgers as VP possibility
MADISON, Wis. – Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has approached New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers about potentially serving as a running mate in his bid for the White House.
Like Kennedy, Rodgers is a longtime skeptic of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and has already said he plans to vote for Kennedy for president. And like Kennedy, Rodgers isn’t a fan of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, has built a platform based on his opposition to vaccines and his storied family in Democratic politics, raising concerns among Democrats he may draw votes away from Biden.
Kennedy campaign press secretary Stefanie Spear told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Kennedy is considering Rodgers and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura as running mates, “along with others on a shortlist.”
The New York Times, which first reported Kennedy’s plans, also reported Kennedy has been speaking with Rodgers “pretty continuously” for the past month.
Rodgers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rodgers became popular in antivaccine circles in 2021 when he played for the Green Bay Packers, when, while recovering from a COVID-19 infection, Rodgers made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” in which he invoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., called out the “woke mob,” blasted the NFL over its “draconian” health and safety policies, and touted the drug ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19 though it is unproven against the disease.
A few days after the interview, he said he didn’t want to get involved in politics.
“I’m an athlete. I’m not an activist,”
Ventura
Rodgers said Nov. 9, 2021, on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the go-to platform for the quarterback the last four years. “I’m going to get back to doing what I do best, and that’s playing ball.”
But he later blasted Biden in response to criticism from the president of Rodgers’ decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In December 2021, Biden told a woman wearing a Packers hat in Kentucky during a visit to the state following a devastating tornado to “tell that quarterback he’s gotta get the vaccine.”
The White House also responded to Rodgers’ statements a month earlier, saying it is “against misinformation.”
In a lengthy interview with ESPN, Rodgers ripped the president.
“When the president of the United States says, ‘This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,’ it’s because him and his constituents, which, I don’t know how there are any if you watch any of his attempts at public speaking, but I guess he got 81 million votes,” Rodgers said.
And in October, Rodgers made public his choice for president.
“I believe in medical freedom and informed consent, and I’m voting for Robert Kennedy Jr.,” Rodgers said in October on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
The Democratic National Committee took aim at the idea of Kennedy running with Rodgers or Ventura.
“The Three Stooges reunion no one was asking for. It’s no surprise this is the shortlist considering the conspiracy theorist doing the choosing,” DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement.
Contributing: Chris Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel