{"id":2327625,"date":"2024-08-20T14:55:59","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T18:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rfk-jr-running-mate-mulling-whether-campaign-should-join-trump-or-risk-harris-presidency-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-20T15:00:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T19:00:25","slug":"rfk-jr-running-mate-mulling-whether-campaign-should-join-trump-or-risk-harris-presidency-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rfk-jr-running-mate-mulling-whether-campaign-should-join-trump-or-risk-harris-presidency-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. running mate mulling whether campaign should join Trump or risk Harris presidency &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frfk-jr-running-mate-mulling-whether-campaign-should-join-trump-or-risk-harris-presidency-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2327625&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Robert F. \u2062Kennedy\u2062 Jr.&#8217;s running\u2064 mate, Nicole Shanahan, is contemplating whether their campaign should unite with former President Donald Trump \u2062or continue independently, risking a potential presidency for Kamala Harris. On\u2063 a podcast, Shanahan \u2063suggested that merging with Trump \u200dcould consolidate their support among \u2062Republican-leaning independents, which the Kennedy campaign has attracted. However, she emphasized the potential benefits\u200b of staying in the race\u2064 to establish their new political party,\u200d which \u200bcould allow them access to significant funding and a platform for future \u2063elections. Shanahan&#8217;s remarks have ignited frustration among\u200d some supporters, while Kennedy reiterated his willingness to\u200c engage with leaders of \u2063any party\u200b to advance\u2064 his longstanding political objectives, including combating \u200dchronic diseases and reducing corporate influence in government. Despite challenges, including dwindling financial resources\u2014Kennedy&#8217;s campaign reported only \u2062$3.9\u2064 million left while facing nearly $3.5 million in debt\u2014Shanahan\u200d has been \u200ba substantial \u200dfunder, contributing \u200daround $13\u2063 million of the $57.5 million raised. The campaign has shifted focus from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-dem-unable-to-speak-fluidly-months-after-stroke-report-says\/\" title=\"Pennsylvania Dem Unable To Speak Fluidly Months After Stroke, Report Says\">traditional campaigning<\/a> to utilizing podcasts\u2064 and online \u200bplatforms.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">RFK Jr. running mate mulling whether campaign should join Trump or risk Harris presidency<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1734599\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rfk-jr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Robert F. Kennedy Jr.&rsquo;s<\/a> running mate is debating whether the campaign should &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-vice-president-mike-pence-joins-the-heritage-foundation\/\" title=\"Former Vice President Mike Pence Joins The Heritage Foundation\">join forces<\/a>&rdquo; with former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> or stay in and risk Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Kamala Harris<\/a> taking office.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s two options that we&rsquo;re looking at, and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency because we draw more votes from Trump,&rdquo; Nicole Shanahan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lAqVn5lRdes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> on Tom Bilyeu&rsquo;s <em>Impact Theory<\/em> podcast. &ldquo;Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we&rsquo;re making this decision.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While RFK Jr. assisted Trump when President Joe Biden was running, siphoning votes away from him in key states, since Harris took the Democratic mantle, he has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/08\/08\/rfk-jr-third-party-effect-are-now-hurting-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>hurt<\/a> the Republican nominee. He also hasn&rsquo;t appeared to have posed as much of a threat as he once did as the parties continue to coalesce around their nominees.<\/p>\n<p>Joining with Trump could help solidify his base of Republican-leaning independents, which the RFK Jr. campaign has been successful at drawing away. But Shanahan said there&rsquo;s something left to fight for.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I need to focus on a vision that goes beyond November,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;If that means that we stay in, there&rsquo;s benefits to staying in. If we get over 5% of the vote, we establish ourselves as a party.<\/p>\n<p>She also said they would be granted millions of dollars of useful funding that would help them to launch a more successful challenge in 2028, when they wouldn&rsquo;t have to fight the same ballot access battles they did this cycle.<\/p>\n<p>Shanahan&rsquo;s comments align with recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/08\/14\/rfk-jr-kamala-harris-cabinet-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reporting<\/a> that RFK Jr. has sought out both the Harris and Trump campaigns in order to ask them if he could have a role in their administrations if he dropped out and endorsed them.<\/p>\n<p>The Harris campaign rebuffed Kennedy, while the Trump campaign had talks with him during the Republican National Convention that didn&rsquo;t come to a concrete conclusion but showed he may be closer to them than Harris.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy posted on X soon after many of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michael-goodwin-radical-left-turns-on-woke-new-york-times\/\" title=\"Michael Goodwin: Radical Left Turns on Woke New York Times\">supporters blasted<\/a> the campaign for Shanahan&rsquo;s frank comments, one saying he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BryceMLipscomb\/status\/1825931600225292615\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>felt<\/a> &ldquo;abandoned&rdquo; and another <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AnnaRMatson\/status\/1825917146485969353\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>saying<\/a> she was &ldquo;disappointed to hear this.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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,&rdquo; Kennedy said. &ldquo;These are: reversing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dnc-ramps-up-efforts-to-kill-rfk-jr-s-bid-with-billboards-in-michigan\/\" title=\"DNC intensifies campaign against RFK Jr. in Michigan with billboards\">chronic disease epidemic<\/a>, 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.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">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&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RobertKennedyJr\/status\/1825940353557356549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Kennedy campaign has grown increasingly financially desperate as support dries up. The independent candidate was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/08\/19\/robert-kennedy-jr-july-fundraising-00174760\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>left<\/a> with just $3.9 million in the bank at the end of last month while owing nearly $3.5 million, according to a report filed on Monday with the Federal Election Commission.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Much of his funding continues to come from Shanahan, who has donated just under $13 million to his campaign in total. That&rsquo;s just over a fifth of the $57.5 million the Kennedy campaign has raised this election cycle.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy has largely stopped campaigning in public since early July, instead going on various podcasts and online platforms to get his message out as he has done for most of the presidential race.<\/p>\n<p>DNC communications adviser Lis Smith blasted the Kennedy campaign in a statement released on Tuesday, also referencing Shanahan&rsquo;s remark that she&rsquo;s considering running for California governor in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Nicole Shanahan isn&rsquo;t even pretending to be a serious VP candidate anymore,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;In one interview alone, she floated RFK Jr. for HHS Secretary in a Trump administration, discussed her interest in running for governor of California in 2026, admitted that the Kennedy-Shanahan campaign has no path to victory, and raised the possibility of joining forces with Trump to defeat Vice President Harris. From the beginning of this race, we&rsquo;ve said that RFK Jr. is nothing more than a spoiler for Donald Trump, and we&rsquo;re glad that his running mate is finally admitting it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Trump campaign did not respond to the <em>Washington Examiner&rsquo;s<\/em> request for comment. The RFK Jr. campaign referred to Kennedy&rsquo;s tweet as its comment.<\/p>\n<p>Decision Desk HQ has Kennedy <a href=\"https:\/\/elections2024.thehill.com\/national\/harris-trump-rfk-general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>polling<\/a> at 3.2% support nationally, with Trump at 43.8% and Harris at 47.9%.<\/p>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1734599\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1734599\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RFK Jr.&#8217;s running mate is considering whether to align the campaign with former President Donald Trump or continue independently, potentially allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to assume the presidency. Nicole Shanahan discussed this dilemma on Tom Bilyeu&#8217;s Impact Theory podcast, stating, &#8220;We have two options: one is to remain in the race and establish a new party, but that could lead to a Harris and Walz presidency as we might draw votes away from Trump.&#8221; She added that they could also choose to withdraw and collaborate with Trump while explaining their decision to supporters. Although RFK Jr. previously helped siphon votes from Biden in critical states, his impact has diminished since Harris became the Democratic nominee. Aligning with Trump could strengthen his appeal among Republican-leaning independents who have been attracted to RFK Jr.&#8217;s campaign. However, Shanahan emphasized the importance of having a long-term vision beyond just this election cycle. She noted that if they secure over 5% of the vote by staying in the race, it would help establish their party and provide significant funding for future campaigns without facing similar ballot access challenges as this time around.<\/p>\n<p>Shanahan&#8217;s remarks coincide with reports indicating that RFK Jr. has approached both Harris&#8217;s and Trump&#8217;s campaigns about potential roles in their administrations should he decide to endorse them after dropping out; however, only Trump&#8217;s team engaged him during discussions at the Republican National Convention without reaching any firm agreements.<\/p>\n<p>Following Shanahan\u2019s comments\u2014which drew criticism from some supporters who felt let down\u2014Kennedy reiterated his willingness to engage with leaders across political parties for causes he has championed throughout his career.<\/p>\n<p>The Kennedy campaign is facing financial difficulties; recent filings show they had $3.9 million left while owing nearly $3.5 million at month-end last month\u2014much of which comes from Shanahan herself who has contributed almost $13 million overall.<\/p>\n<p>DNC communications adviser Lis Smith criticized Kennedy\u2019s campaign following Shanahan\u2019s statements about her own political ambitions for California governor in 2026 and suggested there was no viable path forward for them in this election cycle.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump campaign did not respond when asked for comment on these developments, while current polling shows Kennedy at 3.2% support nationally compared to Trump&#8217;s 43.8% and Harris&#8217;s 47.9%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2327626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Nicole-Shanahan-RFK-1.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[35835,38698,32458,32439,3634],"class_list":["post-2327625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-campaign-strategy","tag-harris-presidency","tag-rfk-jr","tag-running-mate","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Nicole-Shanahan-RFK-1.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2327625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2327626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2327625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2327625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2327625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}