(NewsNation) — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering abandoning his run at the White House to “join forces” with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Kennedy’s running mate said Tuesday.
In an interview posted online, Nicole Shanahan said that the campaign is considering two options.
“One is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and (Tim) Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump, or we draw somehow more votes from Trump,” Shanahan said on the “Impact Theory” podcast, which was posted to YouTube on Tuesday.
“Or we walk away right now and join forces with … Donald Trump, and you know, we walk away from that and explain to our base why we’re making this decision,” she continued.
When contacted by NewsNation, Kennedy’s campaign spokesperson directed the network to a social media post from Kennedy.
“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,” Kennedy wrote 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.”
While Shanahan said that the campaign is keeping its options open, Democrats have characterized Kennedy’s recent moves as desperate.
NewsNation partner The Hill reported on Sunday that a Democratic official confirmed Kennedy had reached out to Vice President Kamala Harris seeking a meeting about a cabinet position with her administration should she defeat Trump in November.
The Washington Post first reported the move, which was unsuccessful, the report said. Kennedy was also said to have met with Trump during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, seeking a spot in Trump’s cabinet should he return to the White House.
In the podcast interview, Shanahan, an attorney and entrepreneur, said that should Kennedy remain in the election, he would hope to garner at least 5% of the popular vote to establish a third-party alternative to the Republicans and Democrats as a way of looking ahead to the 2028 election.
However, Shanahan said earlier in the podcast interview that should Kennedy choose not to drop out, it would not be a move designed to pull votes from either Harris or Trump. Rather, the intent of joining the race initially was for Kennedy to make a legitimate run at the White House.
“I put in tens of millions of dollars to win, to fix this country, to do the right thing,” Shanahan said. “We don’t want to be a spoiler.”