RFK Jr. names California tech lawyer his VP running mate
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday announced that he had selected California tech lawyer, entrepreneur and political newcomer Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential running mate.
With no experience holding or running for elected office, Shanahan epitomizes the kind of nontraditional choices Kennedy has said he would bring to the White House if his long shot bid for the presidency succeeds. In the unlikely event the KennedyShanahan ticket prevails, the 38-year-old vice president would become the second youngest in history.
“I was most importantly looking for a partner who is a young person and Nicole is only 38 years old,” Kennedy said as he introduced Shanahan.
Kennedy called Shanahan “the daughter of immigrants, who overcame every daunting obstacle and went on to achieve the highest levels of the American dream.” He added that she was a “fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist and a fearsome mom.”
After Kennedy’s remarks, Shanahan was introduced to the crowd by a biographical video.
“What young people are faced with today is completely unprecedented,” Shanahan said in the video. “And it’s going to take a new generation of leadership that understands deeply those threats because
they are themselves technologists to address the issues at hand. It’s going to take leadership that has spent their life in technology.”
Kennedy made the announcement at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland, California, where Shanahan grew up and where sitting Vice President Kamala Harris was born. Shanahan’s birthplace is Roseville, outside Sacramento.
While designed to highlight Shanahan’s roots, the locale also seemed to signal that Kennedy intends to go to any state in search of votes, not just the six to eight “swing” states that have been deemed likely to decide whether President Joe Biden will win another term or be replaced by former President Donald Trump.