Kennedy chose Sergei Brin's ex-wife as vice president

Independent US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. chose the former wife of Google founder Nicole Shanahan as his number two . Why is Joe Biden so afraid of a representative of a famous political dynasty  - in the RBC material Robert Kennedy Jr.

On March 26, Robert Kennedy Jr., the nephew of the assassinated US President John F. Kennedy, announced that he had chosen a vice-presidential candidate with whom he plans to run for election on November 5, 2024 . “Number two” was Nicole Shanahan, a lawyer, philanthropist and ex-wife of Google founder Sergey Brin. Other contenders also included American football star Aaron Rodgers and former wrestler and Minnesota governor (1999–2003) Jesse Ventura.

A day earlier, the American publication Axios reported that current US President Joe Biden was seriously concerned about the growing support for Kennedy Jr. and had initiated an operation to combat him. Democrats are trying to catch their rival for violations of election laws, and Biden is looking for allies among members of the Kennedy clan.

What is known about Kennedy Jr.

Robert Kennedy Jr. was born on January 17, 1954, into the family of Robert F. Kennedy, the younger brother of former President John F. Kennedy. When Robert Jr., the third of 11 children in the family, was seven years old, his uncle was elected president of the United States, and his father took the post of attorney general and became a key member of the administration. In 1965, after the assassination of the 35th President of the United States in Dallas, Robert F. Kennedy became a senator from the state of New York, and in 1968 he decided to run for president. In June, while on a campaign tour, he was shot dead in Los Angeles by Palestinian terrorist Sirhan Sirhan. Robert Jr. was 14 years old at the time. Due to the stress associated with his father's death, he became addicted to drugs and in 1970 received a suspended sentence for possession of marijuana.

Robert Kennedy Jr. received a bachelor's degree in American history and literature from Harvard University in 1976 and a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1981. In 1983, Kennedy Jr. failed the bar exam and was later arrested for heroin possession. The court sentenced him to a two-year suspended sentence and correctional labor - he worked as a volunteer for a non-governmental organization that cared about the cleanliness of the Hudson River. It was then that he became interested in the environmental agenda.

In 1984, he became a lawyer on his second attempt, and in 1987 he received another degree in environmental law. In 1999, Kennedy Jr. founded the Waterkeeper Alliance to fight for clean waters and compliance with environmental laws. He acted as a lawyer in cases related to environmental pollution and violation of human rights, in particular of the indigenous population of the United States, and was repeatedly arrested for participating in protests.

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Over time, Kennedy Jr. also became interested in conspiracy theories. In particular, he stated that Sirhan Sirhan was falsely accused of killing his father, and insisted on his pardon, and also claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency was involved in the death of John F. Kennedy.

He opposed vaccination , arguing that it leads to mental retardation in children, and became the chief legal adviser to an organization promoting such views, and also wrote several books about the dangers of vaccinations. During the COVID-19 pandemic , his views have become even more radical.

In April 2023, Robert Kennedy Jr. decided to run for president as a Democratic candidate, but subsequently ran as an independent candidate. He positions himself as a truth-teller and promises to end the “corrupt merger of government and corporations” that are trying to “poison our children and our people with chemicals and pharmaceuticals” and “destroy the middle class.”

Kennedy Jr. calls the main threats to the United States the increased risk of nuclear war, ruinous military spending and an “epidemic of violence” in the country. He also advocated dialogue with Russia and said that the current US administration mistakenly believes that weakening Moscow serves American national interests. He is convinced that a "weak and unstable" Russia , on the contrary, will expose the United States to a greater threat. “The United States and the whole world will be better off if Russia knows that we are not going to destroy it,” Kennedy Jr. said. In addition, he promised that if he wins the election, he will reconsider his policy towards China , no longer viewing it as an enemy, and will enter into confidential negotiations on arms control.

Robert Kennedy Jr. has four sons and two daughters from two marriages. The politician's second wife, Mary Kathleen Richardson, committed suicide two years after the divorce, in 2012. In 2014, Kennedy Jr. married for the third time to actress Cheryl Hines, known for the series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and nominated for an Emmy for this role. The couple does not have children together, but Kennedy Jr. adopted Hines' child from her first marriage.

What can Kennedy Jr. count on?

Since 1853, US presidents have been either Democrats or Republicans, although the elections have invariably included independent and nonpartisan candidates. The highest result in modern US history was demonstrated among them by a businessman with conservative views, Ross Perot, who gained almost 19% of the vote in the 1992 elections and is believed to have won over part of the electorate of Republican George H. W. Bush, which ensured the victory of Democrat Bill Clinton.

Public opinion polls give a fairly wide range in the number of votes Kennedy Jr. can count on, from 2% (Economist/YouGov) to 22% (Quinnipiac University). According to a March Reuters /Ipsos poll , about 15% of respondents are ready to vote for him. Moreover, Kennedy’s approval rating is higher than Trump’s and Biden’s – 52% versus 42 and 41%, respectively, according to a Gallup study .

Unlike candidates from the two major parties, independent politicians and challengers from smaller organizations do not have to go through a lengthy internal party election process. But you need to meet a number of requirements for inclusion on the ballot, which vary from state to state: in some places a small contribution and signatures of several thousand supporters are enough, and in others you need to collect 100 thousand signatures in a short time. To facilitate the nomination process, Kennedy Jr. founded his own party, We the People.

He has now managed to get his name on the ballot in just one state, Utah. But Kennedy's campaign said it had collected enough signatures in three more states - New Hampshire, Nevada and Hawaii. The candidate's super PAC, American Values ​​2024, also said it had collected signatures to put Robert Kennedy Jr. on the ballot in Arizona, Georgia and South Carolina. The collection continues in other states with filing deadlines in the spring and summer.

Thus, Kennedy will likely be able to take part in the elections in four of the eight swing states, where the gap between the Democratic and Republican candidates is minimal. That's where he poses the greatest threat to Biden and Trump: the battle for these states' electoral battles is often determined by just a few thousand votes, and the erosion of the party's electorate by an independent candidate could cost each of them the White House. Moreover, despite the anti-vaxxer views that resonate with Trumpists, Kennedy Jr. poses the greatest danger to the Democrat, The New York Times (NYT) and Axios believe.

How the Trump and Biden campaigns treat Kennedy

Initially, Republicans were wary of Kennedy Jr. In October 2023, the Republican National Committee told voters: “Make no mistake, Robert Kennedy Jr. is just another liberal who wants to ban fossil fuels, raise taxes, and pass the Green New Deal (a package of laws aimed at combating the change). climate. - )". The party said that although the famous family member is running as an independent candidate, he is in fact a "radical far-left Democrat" who voted for Biden in 2020.

Trump's team subsequently softened its stance on Kennedy Jr. as it became clear that he was doing more damage to Biden's position. According to Axios, the Republican campaign headquarters is convinced that, if necessary, they can easily dissuade their electorate from voting for Kennedy, recalling his statements about environmental protection and other issues close to the “left agenda.”

On March 20, the NYT reported that the US Democratic Party had hired a special team of lawyers to fight independent candidates, primarily Kennedy Jr. Back in February, the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, saying that the American Values ​​2024 super PAC's signature drive to get a politician on the ballot violated voting rights: By law, a Super PAC must not directly interact with a candidate's campaign or make donations. in his favor.

More creative actions are also in progress. For example, Biden invited Maria Shriver, the niece of Robert Kennedy Sr., to his annual State of the Union address on March 7, and on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, he took a group photo with 50 members of the Kennedy family. The goal is to demonstrate that one of the most influential political clans in America supports the current president, and not Robert Kennedy Jr., writes Axios. Three of his sisters and a brother issued a statement last fall condemning their relative's election campaign, explaining that he "does not share the same values, views and judgments" as their father.