Jesse Ventura on Robert Kennedy Jr.’s short list for 2024 running mate, but Ventura says he hasn’t been asked

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is one of two people Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he’s considering for his 2024 independent presidential running mate, but Ventura reports he has yet to be officially asked.

Kennedy told the New York Times that Ventura and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers are at the “top of his list” for running as a vice presidential candidate.

But Ventura’s son, Tyrel Ventura, said in a statement Tuesday night that his father “has not been officially asked to be a [vice presidential] candidate” and that “he will not comment on speculations.”

According to the Washington Post, Kennedy has already made up his mind and selected his running mate. The Post attributed it to “someone familiar with the process,” and added that Kennedy plans to announce his choice in the next two weeks.

Kennedy is a nephew of former president John F. Kennedy, and left the Democratic Party last year before announcing he would run as a third-party candidate. He is a lawyer and environmental activist who is a leading figure in the movement that rejects the scientific consensus around vaccines, and a vocal critic of the public health establishment.

Rodgers, the longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback who now plays for the New York Jets, shares Kennedy’s distrust of vaccine mandates and generated controversy over his comments on vaccines.

Ventura, meanwhile, encouraged people in 2021 to get the COVID-19 vaccine in a post on Twitter, which is now X.

There have been other names on Kennedy’s list of potential running mates, a campaign spokesperson told the Associated Press. He has focused his efforts on getting his name on the ballots, which is an expensive and time-consuming process that he has said will require him to collect more than a million signatures in each state.

Many states require independent candidates to name a running mate before they can seek access to a ballot.

Ventura is a former professional wrestler and mayor who shocked observers when he won the election for Minnesota’s governor as an independent candidate in 1998. He served one term.