Report: Jets' Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura on RFK Jr.'s VP Candidate Short List
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has approached both New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former professional wrestler and Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura to potentially serve as his running mate in his quest to be elected president, according to Rebecca Davis O'Brien of the New York Times.
Kennedy is running as an independent candidate.
Per that report, both men have "welcomed the overtures," and Kennedy said he has been speaking with Rodgers "pretty continuously" over the past month.
Kennedy and Ventura have been in touch since the former wrestler did his introduction during an Arizona campaign event in February.
Kennedy also reportedly reached out to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang, who ran for both president in 2020—losing the Democratic nomination to current President Joe Biden—and New York City mayor in 2021, losing that Democratic primary to current Mayor Eric Adams.
Rodgers, 40, is a future Hall of Famer as a quarterback but has become an incredibly polarizing public figure for his controversial takes on a number of topics, most notably his decision to mislead reporters about his vaccination status during the 2021 season.
He made regular appearances on ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show during the 2023 season and made major waves after suggesting that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel would appear on documents linking him to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Kimmel threatened legal action against Rodgers, ESPN senior vice president Mike Foss called Rodgers' comments "a dumb and factually inaccurate joke," and Rodgers never apologized for his remarks despite Kimmel never being mentioned in the cited documents.
Rodgers may be the front-runner to serve as Kennedy's running mate, with Davis O'Brien reporting that "the domain name kennedyrodgers.com was registered last week using a GoDaddy host."
The Jets' quarterback would bring name recognition and star power to Kennedy's ticket. But unlike Ventura, who served as Minnesota's governor between 1999 and '03 and the mayor of Minnesota's Brooklyn Park between 1991 and '95, Rodgers has no experience in public office.
