When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his bid for the White House last year, Kennedy took positions on a wide variety of issues tied to the economy, war and the environment that had the potential capacity to appeal to disenchanted citizens across the political spectrum. And it looked like there was a chance he might run as a populist not entirely defined by his fringe conspiratorial views about vaccines. But Kennedy’s messaging and the people he’s hired show that he’s leaned fully into anti-vaxxer and false conspiracy theories. And that laser focus is evident in the two names for his potential running mates confirmed by NBC News: New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former pro wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.
Any hope that Kennedy would run a serious campaign is gone. Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP, has never held public office. He hasn’t run a major organization. He’s not a policy wonk or a community organizer. But he has at least two qualities that might appeal to Kennedy.
First, because he’s a talented pro athlete, a lot of people know Rodgers’ name; his joining Kennedy would cause a bunch of celebrity buzz and garner attention from folks who might otherwise not pay attention to Kennedy — or politics at all.
Kennedy’s interest in Rodgers and Ventura signals a willingness to leverage celebrity to promote conspiratorial thinking about public health.
Second, outside of football, Rodgers is mainly known for one thing: his fringe views on vaccines and conspiracy theories. When asked in 2021 at a news conference if he had been vaccinated, Rodgers deliberately misled reporters by saying he had “immunized” himself to Covid-19. He was, in fact, not vaccinated and had attempted to use an unproven homeopathic remedy as a substitute. He has raged against the “pharmaceutical-industrial complex” while describing Anthony Fauci as “one of the biggest spreaders of misinformation.” As Gordon Pennycook, an associate professor of psychology at Cornell University, pointed out for MSNBC, the quarterback embodies the hubris of the “I do my own research” guy. A CNN reporter says Rodgers privately told her that he believed the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a government inside job and a staged event. (Rodgers' statement on X in response to the report fell short of a denial: "As I’m on the record saying in the past, what happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy. I am not and have never been of the opinion that the events did not take place.") Rodgers has also falsely linked a celebrity to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Unlike Rodgers, Ventura, a one-term governor of Minnesota, does have political experience. But his celebrity originates and extends outside of politics. Before entering politics, Ventura was a pro wrestler and actor. After serving as governor, he hosted a TruTV show called “Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura.”
The show billed itself as entertainment, but it was criticized for spreading misinformation about, among other things, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and public health. Ventura’s show was the source of a conspiracy theory during the Covid pandemic claiming that the entire pandemic had been planned. Who knows if Ventura believed the misinformation he presented to viewers on the show, but he was clearly comfortable with promoting misinformation.
Kennedy’s interest in Rodgers and Ventura signals a willingness to leverage celebrity to promote conspiratorial thinking about public health. Rather than pursue candidates who could broaden his appeal and the range of issues his candidacy focuses on, his consideration of these two suggests he’s once more doubling down on the same set of themes. Whether the celebrity factor of his potential veep pick pays off at the polls remains to be seen. But it suggests Kennedy’s won’t be anything other than a fringe candidacy.
