Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr’s running mate has aligned herself with fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Nicole Shanahan, a 38-year-old California-based lawyer and now RFK Jr’s vice-president pick, mentioned the disgraced conservative media host at a campaign event last Thursday in Maine, where Carlson has a home.
“I’m sitting across from Tucker, and he and I are so on the same page in every single way,” Shanahan beamed, according to the Daily Beast. “We are on the same page because we have left establishment thinking once and for all.”
There’s no doubt that Carlson has distanced himself from mainstream rhetoric.
The conservative pundit has pushed numerous conspiracy theories, including those about the January 6 Capitol riot, the Covid-19 vaccine, and even going so far as to suggest that fellow conspiracy theorist Alex Jones “called” 9/11.
But Carlson is also an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump, the former president and current convicted felon. He recently condemned the historic New York jury verdict, which found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. He also predicted that the former president, and current convicted felon, will win the 2024 presidential election so long as “he’s not killed first”.
The Kennedy-Shanahan campaign has walked a fine line between aligning too far with one side or the other.
Seemingly so as not to lean too far in the Carlson direction, later in Shanahan’s speech, according to News Center Maine, she drew a link between her campaign and Maine senator Angus King. Although he is an independent, Senator King caucuses with Democrats.
“This is a state with independent-minded people,” Shanahan said, seemingly alluding to King. “This is a state that understands issues, not rhetoric.”
The Kennedy campaign seems to be casting a wide net to attract voters who may not be taken with either major party candidate President Joe Biden or Trump. Even RFK Jr’s own family has distanced themselves from him, throwing their support behind Biden.
