Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s former running mate, criticized Democrats’ attacks on Kennedy in a Fox News interview Tuesday, saying the party has “lost its soul.”
“They’ve lost their soul, they’ve lost their direction,” Shanahan told Fox News’ Jesse Waters on his primetime show.
“And, you know, if you’re going to pick a target, you have to pick it and be a little bit better. Robert F. Kennedy was one of the kindest human beings I’ve ever known.”
Shanahan added that Kennedy is “someone who has been attacked from every angle for years” and that since she joined his campaign, he has told her “every attack is a sign from God, so be kind.”
Kennedy announced last week that he was suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing former President Trump. He appeared with Trump at a rally in Arizona last Friday to announce that he was suspending his campaign.
In introducing Kennedy, President Trump said, “I am so pleased to welcome tonight a man who has been an incredible champion of many of the values that we all share, values that we have shared for a long time.”
Kennedy, who has long debunked anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, spoke as part of the Trump campaign about “making America healthy again.” Waters asked Shanahan what that meant.
“So making America healthy again is about acknowledging that we have the highest rate of chronic health conditions of any nation in the modern world. We’ve spent $4.6 trillion on health care. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. So it’s about asking the hard questions about why our health care system isn’t delivering healthy people,” she said.
“We know there is a tremendous amount of collusion, a tremendous amount of corruption in our institutions. We are going to separate that. We are going to separate Big Pharma from the government agencies that are responsible for delivering healthy outcomes for people.”
After endorsing Trump, several members of Kennedy’s family followed him, including five of his siblings.
“We want an America filled with hope and bound by a shared vision of a brighter future,” Kerry Kennedy wrote in a statement with her brother’s four brothers. “We believe in Harris and Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision today to support Trump is a betrayal of the values our father and our family hold most dear.”
“This is a sad ending to a sad story,” they added.
Kennedy told TMZ this week that his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, also felt uncomfortable with his support for Trump.
