United States presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to name Nicole Shanahan — not New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers — as his running mate, according to The New York Times.
The New York Times reported earlier this month that Rodgers was being considered for the position.
Shanahan is a California-based attorney and entrepreneur who was once married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Last month, Shanahan said she gave $4 million to a group backing Kennedy’s presidential bid to help pay for a Super Bowl ad, and also helped coordinate the ad’s production, per The Times.
Kennedy — a son of former Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy — initially ran as a Democrat. In October, he announced he would instead run as an independent.
Rodgers signed with the Jets last offseason after 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He suffered a torn Achilles just four plays into the 2023 opener against the Buffalo Bills and missed the rest of the season. The 40-year-old said earlier this month on a podcast he was hopeful he’ll be able to play “two, three or four more years” in the NFL.
Rodgers has come under scrutiny off the field in recent years for comments regarding his COVID-19 vaccination status and, more recently, for suggesting that late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s name would appear on documents linking him to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Kimmel threatened Rodgers with court action after the comment in January. The quarterback later clarified the statement on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” saying, “I’m not calling him (a pedophile) and neither should you. Let me make that crystal clear. I don’t take any excitement or joy out of anybody doing that. So don’t do that in my name. Don’t do that at all. Those are serious accusations meant for people who are on the list.”
Rodgers also recently denied an allegation that he shared Sandy Hook conspiracy theories, saying that he has “never been of the opinion that the events” surrounding the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School did not take place. Rodgers’ statement came after CNN reported that Rodgers told CNN journalist Pamela Brown in 2013 that the shooting was a government inside job and the media was intentionally ignoring it. According to the report, CNN spoke to another person who shared a similar story, saying that several years ago Rodgers said, “Sandy Hook never happened … All those children never existed. They were all actors.”
“As I’m on the record saying in the past, what happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy,” Rodgers wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on March 14. “I am not and have never been of the opinion that the events did not take place. Again, I hope that we learn from this and other tragedies to identify the signs that will allow us to prevent unnecessary loss of life. My thoughts and prayers continue to remain with the families affected along with the entire Sandy Hook community.”
Kennedy, 70, has expressed skepticism regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. He has become one of the leading voices in the campaign to discredit their use and has said that the government is using the vaccine as a way to exert control over the population.
“The minute they hand you that vaccine passport, every right that you have is transformed into a privilege contingent upon your obedience to arbitrary government dictates,” Kennedy said at a rally against vaccine mandates in Washington in February, per The Times.
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(Photo: Brian Fluharty / USA Today)
