It was a ruse all along. Robert F. Kennedy, the leading independent candidate for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, said that his choice for vice president boiled down to Aaron Rodgers or Jesse Ventura. Instead, it will be Nicole Shanahan.
Does it really matter? Yes – as long as you’re not thinking too hard about Kennedy’s presidential chances. At press time, the odds at one of the top politics betting sites, Bovada (find out more with our Bovada Review) have Kennedy priced at +3000 to gain the White House, putting him fourth on the list behind Donald Trump (-115), incumbent Joe Biden (+130), and former First Lady Michelle Obama (+2000).
| Candidate | Party | BetOnline | Bovada | Bookmaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Trump | Republican | -175 | -165 | -184 |
| Kamala Harris | Democrat | +153 | +145 | +163 |
Shanahan probably won’t change the Kennedy odds all that much, but she does provide him the things he needs to keep his campaign going – as you’ll see in this profile.
Who Is Nicole Shanahan?
Shanahan is a 38-year-old attorney from Placer County, California who married Google co-founder Sergey Brin in 2018. One year later, Shanahan launched the Bia-Echo Foundation, a private entity with these three stated aims (as per their website):
- Help women become pregnant later in life
- Overhaul the criminal justice system
- Address climate change
Shanahan and Brin kicked Bia-Echo off with a $20-million infusion; the plan was to add another $100 million over the next five years, but the couple separated in 2021 and divorced in 2022 or 2023, depending on which sources are correct.
Just to add some extra spice to the story, rumor has it that Shanahan was having an affair with none other than Elon Musk, who was friends with Brin at the time. It’s uncertain how much of Brin’s $121-billion net worth Shanahan walked away with, but Forbes speculated that she received shares worth about $390 million.
Is Nicole Shanahan An Anti-Vaxxer?
She claims otherwise, but in practice, yes. Shanahan and Brin had a daughter, Echo, who was diagnosed with autism. Given her own difficulties conceiving and giving birth, Shanahan became convinced that IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) is “one of the biggest lies being told about women’s health today.”
It’s a slippery slope from one conspiracy theory to the next. While she shuns the anti-vaxxer label – and insists that Kennedy himself isn’t anti-vaccine – Shanahan said that she does “wonder about vaccine injuries.” According to Shanahan, she suffered “significant health issues” after receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Putting her money where her mouth is, Shanahan contributed $4 million to Kennedy’s “American Values 2024” super PAC. This money was reportedly funneled towards Kennedy’s infamous $7-million Super Bowl LVIII ad, which earned him further rebuke from the rest of the Kennedy clan. Shanahan was also reportedly the driving creative force behind the ad.
Following the backlash, Kennedy apologized and claimed his Super Bowl ad aired “without any involvement or approval” on his part. Now he’s chosen the woman behind the ad as his running mate.
Why Did Kennedy Choose Shanahan?
The money certainly helps. Rodgers and Ventura aren’t poor by any means, but they’re not “tech” rich – and Kennedy needs that money (some $15 million, according to his estimate) if he wants to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.
Shanahan also provides some valuable demographic balance to the Kennedy ticket. He’s a 70-year-old male of European descent; she’s a photogenic younger woman of mixed ethnicity – Shanahan’s father (described by Shanahan as suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) was German-Irish, and her mother Chinese. Shanahan has also never run for office, which will appeal to a certain section of disaffected American voters.
Really, though, this entire campaign just might be about Children’s Health Defense rather than the actual election. It wouldn’t be journalistically appropriate to call Shanahan a “money mark” for Kennedy’s anti-vaccine activist group, which also happens to be against the fluoridation of drinking water, among other things. But this “non-profit” brought in $15 million in revenues in 2021, paying Kennedy more than $500,000 as chairman and chief counsel.
Those numbers are going up. Children’s Health Defense reportedly pulled in $23.5 million in 2022, including a reported $1 million from Fidelity Charitable. As of yet, there are no reports of Shanahan donating directly to CHD, but her involvement as Kennedy’s running mate will surely help keep the money flowing in.
The latest YouGov/Economist polls cited by FiveThirtyEight have Kennedy pulling in 3% of voters, compared to 44% for Trump and 43% for Biden, so unless something drastic happens, Shanahan isn’t about to become second in command of the United States. But you are going to see her face a lot between now and November 5 – and probably well beyond that.
