RFK Jr.'s Billionaire Ex-Running Mate Threatens Senators Who Vote Against His Confirmation: 'Please Choose Wisely'

Mar. 15, 2025

Nicole Shanahan, former independent VP candidate, at a campaign rally on March 26, 2024.Photo:David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty

BillionaireNicole Shanahanis sending a stunning message to senators who feel skeptical aboutRobert F. Kennedy’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28,Kennedy’s 2024 running mateposted a video message in which she promised that she will use her wealth to unseat lawmakers who vote against confirming him as the HHS secretary.

In the video, Shanahan, 39, calls Kennedy, 71, “proven, principled and prepared to lead,” before sharing that he needs every vote he can get as his Senate confirmation looks uncertain.

“This hasn’t been widely reported, but in 2020 I cut large checks to [Democratic Senate Leader]Chuck Schumerto help Democrats flip two senate seats in Georgia from red to blue,” she says in the video.

The Silicon Valley attorney continues: “The two candidates I helped elect, Sen.Raphael Warnockand Sen.Jon Ossoff, please know I will be watching your votes very closely. I will make it my personal mission that you lose your seats in the Senate if you vote against the future health of America’s children.”

After suggesting that there were strings attached with her support of the Georgia Democrats, Shanahan begins listing additional senators on both sides of the aisle who have not revealed how they plan to vote, including RepublicansMitch McConnell,Lindsey Graham,Lisa Murkowski,Susan Collins,Bill Cassidy,Thom TillisandJames Lankford; DemocratsCory Booker,John FettermanandCatherine Cortez Masto; and independentBernie Sanders.

The message concludes: “You’re either on the side of transparency and accountability or you are standing in the way. The choice is yours. Please choose wisely.”

Independent running mates Nicole Shanahan and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a March 26, 2024, rally.David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty

Shanahan’s warning video was posted hours after Kennedy’s cousin,Caroline Kennedy, publicly urged the Senate to oppose his nomination,calling him a “predator” who is “addicted to attention and power.”

Also in Caroline’s blistering message to senators — whicha source told PEOPLE was “a complete departure"from her usual hesitance to speak out against family members — she alleged that her cousin “preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, vaccinating his own kids while building a following hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs.”

Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism has been credited as one of the reasons why Shanahan was drawn to his independent presidential campaign.

Though she previously toldThe New York Timesthat she does not consider herself an anti-vaxxer, she has outwardly questioned scientific consensus on vaccines and said that her fringe doctor attributed vaccines as a contributing factor to her daughter’s autism diagnosis — a theory that has been repeatedly debunked.

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Kennedy’s confirmation hearings began on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and will continue into Thursday, Jan. 30, before the Senate Finance Committee votes on whether to recommend his confirmation asDonald Trump’s secretary of health and human services.

Heading into his confirmation hearings, several senators had declined to go on the record about how they intend to vote.

source: people.com