UPDATE: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would likely offer independent opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a position in his administration if he drops out of the race and endorses him.
“I would love that endorsement because I’ve always liked him," Trump told a reporter on Tuesday who said Kennedy's running mate, Nicole Shanahan, suggested the campaign would consider endorsing the GOP candidate.
The reporter then asked if Trump would put the independent candidate in his administration.
“You’re asking me a very unusual question. I haven’t been asked that question yet," Trump said. "I like him a lot. I respect him a lot. I probably would, if something like that would happen.” 🇺🇸 | BREAKING: Donald Trump may offer RFK Jr. a position in his administration, contingent on his endorsement. #Trump #RFKJr #Politics #CNN pic.twitter.com/yP4z9PUCZx
— Breaking News (@PlanetReportHQ) August 20, 2024
Original Article:Robert F. Kennedy’s vice-presidential pick said their campaign has been contemplating its fate.
Nicole Shanahan appeared on the Impact Theory podcast to discuss the possibility of terminating their joint bid for the White House and the potential impact on the nation.
“What my gut tells me right now is that we just have to keep being honest,” said the lawyer and technology entrepreneur. “I gotta just keep being honest… I need to focus on a vision that goes beyond November.”
Shanahan noted that if she and Kennedy earned 5% or more of the vote, their effort would be formally established as a political party. She stressed that “71% of Americans want a strong third party with a real shot at winning.”
Earing 5% of the vote would also grant their new political party access to public funding through the Federal Election Commission.
“That’s worth something,” Shanahan told Impact Theory’s host Tom Bilyeu. “That means that we can position for a real third-party election in 2028 where we don’t have to go around and spend tens of millions of dollars on ballot access.”
The Kennedy-Shanahan campaign says their candidates will appear on the ballot in at least 22 states – including California, North Carolina, Michigan, South Carolina, and Iowa. The campaign has also submitted signatures to appear on the ballot in another 21 states. This list includes Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and Arizona.
“The Kennedy-Shanahan campaign has collected more signatures than any presidential candidate in American history, collecting more than 1 million signatures,” said the campaign in a statement on Aug. 17. “The campaign has now collected the signatures needed for ballot access in 47 states, totaling 517 electoral votes, 96% of the 538 total electoral votes nationwide.”
Shanahan also contrasted the other consequences of remaining in the 2024 presidential race.
“There’s two options that we're looking at and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Waltz presidency because we draw more votes from Trump,” she said. “Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we're making this decision.”
At other points during the interview, Shanahan discusses being “sabotaged” by the Democratic National Committee and the Clear Choice PAC.
“We don’t want to be a spoiler. We wanted to win. We wanted a fair shot,” she said. “The DNC made that impossible for us.”
Shanahan added that she is “disappointed” she previously helped Democrats, including Senator Chuck Schumer, secure a majority.
“It is probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life,” she said. She added that she and Kennedy are now asking themselves if the “risk of a Harris-Walz” presidency is “worth” them staying in the race.
Kennedy has not directly addressed Shanahan’s remarks.
“As always, I am willing to talk with leaders of any political party to further the goals I have served for 40 years in my career and in this campaign,” he wrote in a post on X. “These are: reversing the chronic disease epidemic, ending the war machine, cleaning corporate influence out of government and toxic pollution out of the environment, protecting freedom of speech, and ending politicization of enforcement agencies.”
