Nicole Shanahan, the philanthropist who was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate last year, warned senators that a vote against his nomination as Health and Human Services secretary will result in a campaign to get them booted from office.
“While Bobby may be willing to play nice, I won’t if you vote against him,” Shanahan said in a video posted to X Tuesday evening. “I will personally fund challengers to primary you in your next election, and I will enlist hundreds of thousands to join me.”
Shanahan name-dropped both Democratic and Republican senators in her message, including Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted against Pete Hegseth’s nomination as Defense secretary.
She also called out Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, saying she “cut big checks” to get the Georgia senators elected and will be watching their “votes very closely.”
Her message also tasked her followers to call and urge their senators to confirm Kennedy.
Shanahan was the founder of a patent management firm. Her wealth reportedly stems from her marriage to billionaire Google co-founder Serget Brin and the pair divorced in 2022.
She became Kennedy’s running mate for his failed independent presidential bid after funneling millions into a pro-Kennedy Super PAC that helped fund a February Super Bowl advertisement last year. In the past, she has donated to notable Democratic politicians like Hillary Clinton in 2016 and former President Joe Biden in 2020.
Kennedy, who is appearing before the Senate Finance Committee — with his confirmation uncertain — has faced overwhelming scrutiny over his anti-vaccine history and other unconventional health views since announced as Trump’s health secretary pick. His cousin, Caroline Kennedy, also recently referred to him as a “predator.”
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