Who is Nicole Shanahan, RFK Jr.’s Vice Presidential Pick?

March 27, 2024

Former Democrat turned Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has finally made a decision.

To bolster his campaign, he’s chosen Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential running mate. So who is Nicole Shanahan?

Who is Nicole Shanahan

RFK Jr.’s VP pick Nicole Shanahan has caused quite a stir. At just 38 years old, she’s barely old enough to take the reins of the Presidency.

Shanahan, who is Chinese, grew up in California and graduated from Santa Clara Law School in 2014.

As a technologist, she started her own intellectual property firm, called ClearAcceessIP. She’s been an investor in multiple emerging technologies, like biotech.

CNN reports that Shanahan was an early supporter of Kennedy, who is also a lawyer with interests in tech. Like Kennedy, she has been a skeptic of the Covid vaccine.

In addition to the wealth she earned from her tech startup and other ventures, she was also married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. CNN and the Wall Street Journal report that the cause of the divorce in 2023 was an affair Shanahan had with Elon Musk. The affair has been denied by both Shanahan and Musk.

I ask you to keep in mind that @NicoleShanahan has just ripped off the goggles of wokeism! Give her time to adjust to the light, to breathe that fresh liberty air.

She’s been trapped in progressive tyranny & muck for so long, it’s going to take a second to adjust to this… pic.twitter.com/4rcOcq5QEO

What Kennedy Is Saying

So why did Kennedy choose Nicole Shanahan?

Many are speculating about getting some youth into the fold. Especially considering the two main candidates are considered quite old. At just 38, Shanahan is younger than Barack Obama was when he was running, and he was considered young.

There’s also the matter of money. Shanahan has a lot of it, and Kennedy needs a lot of it.

Kennedy himself makes a strong case for his independence with this choice, saying, “Nicole and I both left the Democratic Party. Our values didn’t change. The Democratic Party did.”

Acknowledging American voters’ insistence on only voting for Republicans or Democrats, Kennedy argued, “If Nicole and I can get Americans to refuse to vote from fear, we’re going to be in the White House in November.”

That’s a tall order, but Kennedy is betting on Nicole Shanahan making a splash with voters.

President Trump responded to the choice by blasting both candidates.