Nicole Shanahan, the East Bay mega-donor turned vice presidential running mate of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., accused Rep. Ro Khanna of privately supporting her political aspirations before “flipping the switch” and publicly urging her through the media to drop out — a claim the South Bay Democrat vociferously denies.
Shanahan, a lawyer with Silicon Valley connections as the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, said she was contacted by CBS about a letter from Khanna urging her to drop out of the race to avoid pulling votes from President Biden and helping former President Donald Trump return to the White House. She indicated that she hadn’t personally received the letter, and she posted on the social media platform X that the congressman initially encouraged her to run.
“In my conversation with Ro he congratulated me on the position and encouraged me to run, stating that every American has the right to run in this country,” Shanahan posted Tuesday. “He stated that we live in a democracy, and it was wrong for anyone to threaten me against running. Clearly, Ro has changed his stance based on pressure from the party. I hope he understands how anti-democratic it is to ask someone to step down from a race that empowers the American public to make their own decisions. I am very disappointed that he has been pressured into issuing this letter to me publicly…”
.@CBS just sent this to me:
“I have received a letter from Rep. Ro Khanna, intended for Nicole Shanahan, urging her to step down as RFK Jr.'s running mate. In the letter, Rep. Khanna warns Shanahan that supporting Kennedy could aid Trump's return to the White House and have…
— Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) April 9, 2024
Khanna, one of the Democratic party’s leading progressives, tells a very different story: He said Shanahan phoned him for thoughts a couple days before Kennedy publicly announced she was his vice presidential pick and insisted he never encouraged her to join RFK Jr.’s campaign.
Im so grateful for your courage and grace Nicole. I have always admired RoKhanna. His flip flop here is disappointing. The party has power to bludgeon men of character into waivering.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 10, 2024
In a posted response and in an interview with the Bay Area News Group on Thursday, Khanna said that while he’d indicated Shanahan had a right to run, he’d also cautioned that doing so would jeopardize issues she’s championed.
“I said she had every right to run but hoped she wouldn’t run because her climate goals would only be served by Biden winning, and her running would only take away votes from the president,” Khanna said. “I made the case to her respectfully, but said I recognize she had the right to run.”
Khanna said he later followed up with the text message that reflected their earlier conversation, and the open letter to encourage her to drop out, but that nobody from the Democratic National Committee or Biden campaign urged him to do that.
“I did that on my own,” Khanna said.
The congressman posted on social media an image of a text message to Shanahan in which he congratulated her on her selection as Kennedy’s running mate, and said “I want to be very respectful because I believe everyone has the right to run.”
“But I would hope you might consider joining the Biden efforts at some point to do and push for bold things on regenerative agriculture and climate,” Khanna’s text continued. “Let’s keep the lines of communication and dialogue open. Warmly, Ro.”
Nicole has every right to be on the ticket. My point to her both publicly and privately has been that RFK’s ticket threatens the very issues she cares about –such as climate and abortion rights and to welcome her into the Democratic Party. https://t.co/MDE15wONHU pic.twitter.com/tPzsU4IZWH
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) April 9, 2024
Kennedy, the son of former Democratic New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated during a presidential bid in 1968, and nephew of former Democratic President John F. Kennedy who was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, is an environmental lawyer who also has criticized vaccine safety. At a recent campaign rally, many of the people there said he appealed to them because they feel alienated by the Biden administration and Democratic Party.
Polls have indicated a tight presidential race in November between Biden and his Republican rival Trump, but according to The Hill, Kennedy is the highest polling third-party presidential candidate since businessman Ross Perot in 1992. The RealClearPolitics national average on Wednesday put Trump at 41.9%, Biden at 40%, Kennedy at 10%, independent candidate Cornel West at 1.7% and the Green Party’s Jill Stein at 1.5%.
Khanna, who’s represented the South Bay’s 17th Congressional District since 2016, is a lawyer who aligns with the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, and co-chaired Rep. Barbara Lee’s unsuccessful U.S. Senate run.
Kennedy joined in the fray with a post that said he’d “always admired Ro Khanna” and that “his flip flop here is disappointing.”
“The party has power to bludgeon men of character into wavering,” Kennedy said.
Shanahan countered Khanna’s response Wednesday with a post calling his letter urging her to drop out “performative.”
“You have my phone number and could have called instead of going to the press,” Shanahan said.
.@RoKhanna you have my phone number and could have called instead of going to the press. This is performative. https://t.co/znc7uhrLuw https://t.co/ZSZiSAVyW5
— Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) April 10, 2024
