RFK Jr.'s Running Mate: We Could Drop Out, Back Trump

It seems pretty clear Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not going to be the next president of the United States of America. What's not as clear is whether he will stay in the race until the bitter end. In a podcast interview recounted by the New York Times and Axios, Kennedy's running mate, Silicon Valley investor Nicole Shanahan, suggested they could end their campaign and endorse Donald Trump. "There's two options that we're looking at," Shanahan says in the Impact Theory episode posted Tuesday. "One is staying in," with the goal of getting the 5% of the vote needed to establish a political party that could get federal funding and better ballot access for the next presidential election. But, Shanahan continued, that could help the Harris-Walz campaign, since polling indicates RFK Jr.'s campaign is more likely to siphon votes from the Trump-Vance campaign.

Which brought Shanahan to option No. 2: "Or we walk away, right now, and join forces with Donald Trump, and we walk away from that and explain to our base why we are making this decision. Not easy." The question, she said, is whether the risk of Harris winning is "worth us staying" in the race.

• Hours after the podcast was posted, Trump was asked about Shanahan's comments. "I didn't know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I'd be open to" offering him a spot in a potential Trump administration, Trump told CNN of RFK Jr. "He's a brilliant guy. He's a very smart guy. I've known him for a very long time. ... I like him, and I respect him."
• As for Kennedy, he posted on X, "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. 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."

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