KITTERY, Maine — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vice presidential pick, Nicole Shanahan, held a rally in Maine Thursday in hopes of appealing to independent voters and those disillusioned by the campaigns of former president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
Shanahan began her speech to an auditorium of several dozen supporters by drawing comparisons between her views and those of right-wing commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
“I’m sitting across from Tucker, and he and I are so on the same page in every single way,” Shanahan said Thursday.
Later in the speech, however, she sought to connect Kennedy's campaign to Sen. Angus King, an independent with vastly different views as Carlson.
“This is a state with independent-minded people. This is a state that understands issues, not rhetoric,” Shanahan said.
Those gathered to hear Shanahan represented a broad coalition from across the political spectrum, in many cases bonded by a support for the Kennedy campaign’s many conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and vaccines, as well as a desire for a different type of political figure.
“He seems to be kind of a rare person in the political sphere who can learn,” Dr. Christobal Alvarado, a retired physician, said.
“He thinks for himself, he questions,” Cathi Mavodones, another supporter, added.
This unity in thought among supporters, however, was put to the test when news broke during the rally that a New York jury had convicted former president Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
For some voters, like Darrian Lewry, who leans Democratic, the verdict powerfully represented Trump’s character.
“I’m not surprised, just with who Donald is,” Lewry said.
But across the RFK camp, Mavodones disagrees, calling the case “irrelevant” and “sensationalism.”
Now, with the Kennedy campaign planning events around Maine to attempt to tap into a wide coalition, the question of ballot access—the tool needed to compete with Trump and Biden—hangs in the balance.
Four thousand signatures are needed to land on the presidential ballot in November. A campaign official would not disclose how many have been collected so far in Maine, but said they are drawing close. Currently, the Kennedy ticket will appear in seven states, with enough signatures collected in eight others, according to the campaign.