In an interview with The New York TimesRobert F. Kennedy Jr. said he is also considering New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura as his 2024 presidential challenger.
“No one has officially asked Governor Ventura to be a running mate and the governor will not comment on speculation,” Ventura’s representative told PEOPLE.
Representatives for Kennedy and Rodgers did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Tuesday.
Kennedy’s announcement on Tuesday followed reports in early February that the 70-year-old presidential hopeful was “close to picking” a challenger, NBC News reported.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Miami Beach, Florida, USA, on Friday, May 19, 2023.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty
Kennedy revealed The New York Times that he has been communicating “pretty much continuously” with the New York Jets quarterback, 40, for the past month. Kennedy also said he has been in contact with the former Minnesota governor, 72, since February.
Ventura introduced Kennedy at a campaign event last month in Arizona. Meanwhile, Rodgers previously endorsed Kennedy in 2023. Then last week, Rodgers shared Kennedy’s response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“This is presidential,” Rodgers wrote in the reshared post.
The NFL star won the Super Bowl in 2011 when he played for the Green Bay Packers and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since then, he has won four MVP awards.
More recently, after joining the Jets for the 2023-2024 season, he tore his Achilles in the first game of the season. Rodgers is expected to return this year.
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Aaron Rodgers on October 30, 2023 in New York.
John Lamparski/Getty
Ventura served as the governor of Minnesota for one term from 1999 to 2003. He previously had a career as a professional wrestler.
Before running as an independent candidate, Kennedy — son of slain U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of slain President John F. Kennedy — first campaigned as a Democrat. He ended that campaign in October 2023 and began his independent bid.
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Jesse Ventura on April 4, 2011 in New York.
Joe Corrigan/Getty
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Aaron Rodgers appears to be endorsing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential run.
On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee shared a statement regarding Kennedy’s announcement of the vice presidential nomination.
“No one asked for a reunion of The Three Stooges. It’s no surprise that this is a shortlist given the conspiracy theorist who’s picking,” said DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill.
Kennedy will face Democratic presumptive Joe Biden and Republican presumptive Donald Trump.
RFK Jr. he is now running for president as an independent candidate after a failed Democratic campaign
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education