MADISON – Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has approached former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers about potentially serving as a running mate in his bid for the White House.
Like Kennedy, Rodgers is a longtime skeptic of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and has already said he plans to vote for Kennedy for president. And like Kennedy, Rodgers isn’t a fan of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, has built a platform based on his opposition to vaccines and his storied family in Democratic politics, raising concerns among Democrats he may draw votes away from President Joe Biden. Sixteen percent of Wisconsin voters support Kennedy for president, according to a January poll by the Marquette University Law School.
Kennedy campaign press secretary Stefanie Spear told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Kennedy is considering Rodgers and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura as running mates “along with others on a short list.”
Kennedy also interested in former wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura
Kennedy on Tuesday told the New York Times that Rodgers, who now plays for the New York Jets, and Ventura, who also is a former pro wrestler, are at the top of his list of potential running mates.
The Times, which first reported Kennedy’s plans, also reported Kennedy has been speaking with Rodgers “pretty continuously” for the past month.
Rodgers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rodgers became popular in anti-vaccine circles in 2021, when while recovering from a COVID-19 infection, Rodgers made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” in which he invoked Martin Luther King Jr., called out the “woke mob,” touted the controversial and unproven-for-to COVID-19 drug ivermectin, and blasted the NFL over its “draconian” health and safety policies.
A few days after the interview, he said he didn’t want to get involved in politics.
“I’m an athlete. I’m not an activist,” Rodgers said Nov. 9, 2021, on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the go-to platform for the former Packers quarterback the last four years. “I’m going to get back to doing what I do best and that’s playing ball.”
But he later blasted Biden in response to criticism from the Democratic president of Rodgers’ decision to not become vaccinated against COVID-19.
In December 2021, Biden told a woman wearing a Packers hat in Kentucky during a visit to the state following a devastating tornado to “tell that quarterback he’s gotta get the vaccine.”
The White House also responded to Rodgers’ statements a month earlier about the pandemic, saying it is “against misinformation.”
In a lengthy interview with ESPN heading into that playoff loss to the 49ers, Rodgers ripped the president.
“When the president of the United States says, ‘This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,’ it’s because him and his constituents, which, I don’t know how there are any if you watch any of his attempts at public speaking, but I guess he got 81 million votes,” Rodgers said.
And in October, Rodgers made public his choice for president.
“I believe in medical freedom and informed consent, and I’m voting for Robert Kennedy Jr.,” Rodgers said in October on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Chris Kuhagen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
