Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has developed a reputation as a conspiracy theorist.
He could be conspiring to get another such person on the ticket with him. And a famous one at that.
Kennedy’s campaign told The Times that the 70-year-old is considering New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota governor/ex-professional wrestler Jesse Ventura as running mates along with others on a short list. The New York Times was the first to report it.
Citing “two people familiar with the discussions,” the New York Times also reported Tuesday that Kennedy has reached out to Rodgers and Ventura about the possibility and that “both have welcomed the overtures.”
ABC News reported Wednesday that Kennedy told the network he has chosen a vice president but declined to identify the person. An announcement on the matter is expected from Kennedy within weeks.
Rodgers, 40, hasn’t spoken publicly on the reports, and the Jets did not respond to questions from The Times for this story.
Pat McAfee, who frequently has Rodgers as a guest on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” said on Wednesday’s broadcast that he doesn’t think Rodgers would leave football for politics at this time.
“This does not feel like a potential reality,” said McAfee, who had not spoken with Rodgers on the matter. “What feels like a reality is that this is a very standard Aaron Rodgers offseason. Everything that was being built up for last year’s Jets team and that feeling that he — ‘cause you remember the way he was talking about how happy he was to be back in the building and loving football again and everything like that … the whole thing, like that feeling that he had, I think he’s gonna be searching for that feeling again with the New York Jets this season.”
Ventura’s son, Tyrel Ventura, said in an email to the New York Times on Tuesday: “No one has officially asked Gov. Ventura to be a vice-presidential candidate so the governor does not comment on speculation.”
Kennedy and Rodgers have both been vocal with their anti-vaccination stances.
Rodgers said on McAfee’s show in October that he wanted to team with “my man, RFK Jr.” in a debate over vaccinations against Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, who endorses Pfizer’s vaccine against COVID-19, and former U.S. chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Later that month, Rodgers told McAfee, “I believe in medical freedom and informed consent, and I’m voting for Robert Kennedy Jr.”
In February, Kennedy posted a photo on X of him hiking with Rodgers. Earlier this month, Rodgers posted a Kennedy campaign video and wrote, “This is presidential.”
Kennedy is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was running for president before he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel in 1968 after winning California’s Democratic primary. In 1963, his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated.
The Jets did not respond to questions from The Times for this story, and Rodgers has not publicly commented on the matter.
On his show Wednesday, McAfee said that he “will try to get the answer from Aaron in where his mindset is” on his plans for the fall.
While Ventura, 72, repeatedly urged folks to get vaccinated and wear masks during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, both he and Kennedy seemed to have bought into conspiracy theories involving the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S.
“I believe that the government has not been truthful with us about it,” Ventura told The Times while promoting his truTV show “Conspiracy Theory” in 2009. “Yes, absolutely. That there’s massive holes in the story they’ve told. That none of these questions have ever been adequately addressed.”
Kennedy told CNN last year: “I don’t know what happened on 9/11. I mean, I understand what the official explanation is; I understand that there is dissent. I have not looked into it.”