Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chooses Nicole Shanahan to be his vice-presidential running mate

On Tuesday, independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he has chosen Nicole Shanahan to be his vice-presidential pick.

The 38-year-old California attorney is a wealthy philanthropist who has supported Democratic candidates in the past.

Kennedy had tried to challenge incumbent President Joseph R. Biden (D) in the Democratic primary but was barred by party bosses who sought to avoid a serious primary challenge for the 81-year-old incumbent.

Shanahan has never held an elected office before. She heads the Bia-Echo Foundation, that funds liberal causes ranging from reproductive rights to environmental justice to justice reform.

"Nicole and I both left the Democratic Party," he said. "Our values didn't change. The Democratic Party did."

Kennedy is an environmental attorney best known for his role in the Monsanto lawsuit over the alleged negative health side effects of Roundup.

"I wanted a vice president who shared my passion for wholesome, healthy foods, chemical free, regenerative agriculture, for good soils, and I found exactly the right person," said Kennedy. "Among other things she has used over the past several years cutting edge technology including AI to calculate the catastrophic health consequences of toxins in our air, our soils, and our food."

Kennedy is also skeptical of the technology companies and the role that social media companies have played in censoring unpopular views, such as COVID skepticism.

"Technology has been a lifelong passion for my future vice-president. This is important because I also wanted a vice president who shares my indignation about the participation of big tech as a partner in the censorship, surveillance, and information warfare that our government is currently waging against the American people; and that is why I am bringing on someone with a deep inside knowledge of how big tech uses technology to manipulate the public. I want a partner with strong ideas about how to reverse those dire threats to democracy and to our freedoms. I managed to find a technologist at the forefront of AI. She has spent the last decade relying on neural networks and cutting-edge science to identify abuses in our government."

Chronic health is another concern of Kennedy and his belief that Americans are growing less healthy over time.

"She understands that the health of every American is a national security issue and a national security risk. Her work has proven time and again that health drives our economy. That it is the foundation of our mental health, our national happiness, our ability to lead the world in innovation, in prosperity, and in peace. I also wanted someone who was an athlete who can inspire Americans to heal to get them back in shape; and I am happy to report that my vice president is an avid surfer who attended school on a softball scholarship."

Kennedy warned that the VP will be attacked and needs to be able to withstand that criticism.

"I wanted, right here in Oakland, someone who is battle tested able to withstand criticism and the controversies, and all the defamations, slanders, and perjuries that are thrown against everyone who embarks on a presidential campaign."

Kennedy is very skeptical of the government regulatory agencies and how they are functioning.

"I wanted an advocate who has seen corruption of our regulatory agencies firsthand, who shares my indignation on how it allows regulated industries to commoditize our food, our wildlife, our children."

"I wanted someone who would honor the traditions of our nation as a nation of immigrants; but who also understands that to be a nation we need secure borders. I wanted a partner who was a gifted administrator, but also possesses the gift of curiosity, an open inquiring mind and the confidence to change even her strongest opinions in the face of contrary evidence. I wanted someone with a spiritual dimension and compassion and idealism and above all a deep love for the United States of America. I found all of those qualities in a woman who grew up right here in Oakland. A daughter of immigrants who overcame every daunting obstacle and went on to achieve the highest levels of the American dream; so that is why I am so proud to introduce the next vice president of the United States - My fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom - Nicole Shanahan."

Shanahan is the daughter of a Chinese immigrant mom and a now deceased American father with Irish-German heritage. Her father struggled with alcohol abuse, so the family relied on food stamps and government assistance. She later became quite wealthy. She was an anti-Iraq war activist in her youth.

“Violence begets more violence,” said Shanahan. “I have seen what that does to society and I didn’t want my country, the country that I love so dearly, to be doing that in the world. These are two of my political convictions I hold today. to serve peace and serve those in poverty. So, you can understand why I gravitated to the Democratic Party. That was supposed to be the party of peace, the party of compassion. Many Democrats, we still believe in those ideals; but unfortunately, as a institution it has lost its way. There is only one antiwar candidate today, and you won’t find him in the Democratic or Republican parties, he is independent candidate Bobby Kennedy.”

Shanahan, whose daughter is autistic, shares Kennedy’s concerns about the chronic disease epidemic and his concerns about the negative impacts that pollution and the pharmaceutical industry have played in American health issues.

“There is only one candidate that takes the chronic disease epidemic and that is Robert Kennedy,” said Shanahan. “We can figure out what is making us sick. We just have to ask the right questions, do the right research, and apply the right tools. We have to rid science of the corporate bias that infects it today, and then we put this thing into reverse.”

Democrats are concerned that a Kennedy-Shanahan ticket could split their progressive base between, giving former President Donald J. Trump (R). Kennedy is also appealing to some on the right with his bitter opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine, denunciations of big tech and the corporate media, and advocacy for border security.

The general election in on November 5.

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