RFK Jr. Announces VP Pick Is a Tech Entrepreneur Who Has Given His Campaign a Lot of Money

After weeks of speculation, anti-vaccine activist and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced today that he had chosen Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential running mate. Shanahan, 38, an attorney and tech entrepreneur, has donated millions to a super PAC supporting Kennedy’s campaign.

“I’m so proud to introduce to you the next vice president of the United States,” Kennedy said, praising her as a “fellow lawyer” as well as a “fierce warrior mom.”

During the announcement, which took place at the Kaiser Center in Shanahan’s hometown of Oakland, California, Kennedy called her “a technologist at the forefront of AI” and that “she understands that the health of every American is a national security issue and a national security risk.”

“I wanted someone who is battle-tested,” Kennedy added, and able to withstand the “defamations” he said are part of running for office.

Shanahan has been in the news plenty and is known for her previous marriage to Google cofounder Sergey Brin, which ended in a divorce finalized in 2023. The Wall Street Journal reported that the breakup followed an alleged affair between Shanahan and Elon Musk, a former friend of Brin’s. Musk denied the affair on Twitter. Shanahan is also a prominent figure in Silicon Valley; she’s the founder of the Bia-Echo Foundation, which invests in projects targeting “reproductive longevity and equality, criminal justice reform, and a healthy and livable planet.” She was also a CodeX fellow at the Stanford Center of Legal Informatics, a collaboration between their legal and computer science department. And she’s the founder of ClearAccess IP, an analytics company.

In his announcement, Kennedy added that Shanahan was going to stand up to Silicon Valley and Wall Street.

Shanahan has never held political office but has previously donated money to the campaigns of Pete Buttigieg and Marianne Williamson. She also supported President Biden’s 2020 campaign. Earlier this year, she switched it up and donated $4 million to American Values 2024, the PAC that aired a Super Bowl ad supporting Kennedy’s campaign. Donor records also show that she has given to many Democratic candidates in past