Vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan during a rally for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Austin, Texas, May 13, 2024 Give a speech.
Sergio Flores | AFP | Getty Images
independent presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering giving up the pursuit of the White House and “joining forces” with the United States republican party nominee Donald TrumpKennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan say in a new interview It was posted online Tuesday.
Shanahan also said that the campaign is also considering continuing to run, trying to win more than 5% of the popular vote and “establish itself” as a third-party alternative to the Republicans and Democrats, and build on that to win votes for the Democrats and Republicans. .
“We are considering two options, one is to stay and form a new party, but we face the risk of being eliminated. Kamala Harris and waltz Presidency Because we got votes from Trump, or we got more votes from Trump,” Shanahan said in an interview with The Washington Post. influence theory podcast.
“Or we leave now and join forces with … Donald Trump, you know, we leave and explain to our supporters why we made this decision,” Shanahan told interviewer Tom Bleew.
“It’s not easy, it’s not an easy decision,” the lawyer and entrepreneur added.
When Beaulieu asked her if she would run for governor of California, where she lives, if Kennedy ended his campaign with her, Shanahan said, “I would consider running, too.”
“I want to be involved in California,” she said.
If Kennedy and Shanahan drop out of the race, it’s unclear whether their potential voters will necessarily turn to Trump and his running mate. Senator JD Vance Ohio.
But some polls suggest Democratic nominee Vice President Harris will be more resistant to Trump in swing states when Kennedy is included as a candidate than when Kennedy is not an option.
“I’m not investing tens of millions of dollars to be a spoiler candidate,” Shanahan said earlier in an interview.
“I invested tens of millions of dollars to win, to fix this country, to do the right thing,” she said. “We don’t want to be a spoiler.”
“We want to win. We want a fair chance,” Shanahan added.
Bilyeu said in a post on X that the interview was filmed on Monday.
When the Kennedy campaign was asked to comment on Shanahan’s interview, he referred CNBC to a new tweet from Kennedy.
“As always, I am willing to speak with leaders of any political party to further the goals I have served for 40 years in my career and in this campaign,” Kennedy wrote.
“These measures are: reversing the chronic disease epidemic, ending the war machine, cleaning up corporate influence in government and toxic pollution from the environment, protecting free speech and ending the politicization of law enforcement agencies,” Kennedy said.
“Nicole Shanahan no longer even pretends to be a serious vice presidential candidate,” Democratic spokesperson Lis Smith said in a statement.
In one interview alone, she nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be health and human services secretary in the Trump administration, discussed her interest in running for California governor in 2026, and admitted there was no path to winning in the Kennedy-Shanahan race , and raised the possibility of joining forces with Trump to defeat Vice President Harris,” Smith said.
“We’ve said from the beginning of the race that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is nothing more than a spoiler for Donald Trump, and we’re pleased that his running mate is finally admitting that.”
Shanahan’s interview comes just days before Harris is set to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in Chicago.
Kennedy gave up trying to win the Democratic nomination last year.
His late father, New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in June 1968 after winning the Democratic presidential primary in California.
Kennedy’s campaign claims to have collected enough signatures to secure voting rights in all 50 states. But a judge ruled last week that he could not vote in New York because his claims of residence in the state were a “hoax.”
Kennedy is appealing the ruling but is also working to have him removed from the ballot in key swing states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania and several other states.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
