The running mate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is pursuing an independent bid for president, says the campaign is considering exiting the race and backing former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, in the November election.
Nicole Shanahan, a wealthy California attorney and Kennedy’s pick for vice president, made the comments on an episode of the podcast Impact Theory posted Tuesday, as the campaign struggles with slumping poll numbers and lackluster fundraising.
“There’s two options that we’re looking at,” Shanahan said. “One is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and [Tim] Walz presidency, because we draw votes from Trump or we draw somehow more votes from Trump. Or, we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump. We walk away from that and we explain to our base why we’re making this decision.”
Kennedy initially launched his campaign as a bid to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, but later announced he would run as an independent candidate.
Shanahan, whom Kennedy chose as his running mate in March, heads a charitable foundation and was previously married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.