Why is Aaron Rodgers no longer Robert F. Kennedy’s running mate for 2024 elections?

It was just last week that the New York Jets quarterback found himself at the center of multiple reports which indicated that he was set to be the running mate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who confirmed that the signal caller was in fact the man he was going to the polls with.

Aaron Rodgers is pulling out of politics

From his suggestion that covid-19 targets specific races while giving immunity to others, to his promotion of the idea that mass shootings are linked to prescription drugs, it would be fair to say that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a love for conspiracy theories. To that end, while it was shocking to hear that New York Jets star, Aaron Rodgers, was going to be on his ticket as he prepares for a run at the White House, it wasn’t entirely surprising. Rodgers himself is known to have endorsed a few conspiracies in his time and reportedly did so recently when he allegedly claimed that the Sandy Hook shooting was a “government inside job.”

The 40-year-old addressed those allegations on Thursday - one day after the report went public - with an eyebrow-raising tweet in which he described the massacre at Sandy Hook as “an absolute tragedy.” Then, on Friday, a video was posted on social media in which we saw Kennedy himself declaring that his pick had been made for VP and “It’s not any of the people they’ve been talking about,” which seemed to suggest that Rodgers was not the guy.

Finally, on Saturday we were informed that Kennedy has chosen California-based attorney, Nicole Shanahan, as his running mate. The announcement also confirmed that Rodgers was no longer in consideration and moreover had “prompted concerns among donors to the campaign.”

Now, as to what those concerns are/were we can’t exactly say, however, we do know that it was following CNN’s initial report on Rodgers’ alleged Sandy Hook beliefs and his subsequent response, that we got to this point. Was Rodgers’ stance on the shooting too much of a risk for Kennedy and Co.? Was this whole thing simply a ploy to draw greater attention to his campaign? Indeed, given the attention that Rodgers - a long-time Kennedy supporter - commands, one can’t exactly fault the move regardless of whether he was truly considered for the position or not.

At any rate, Rodgers can now focus on the one thing that we know he’s good at: Football. Following a season that wasn’t after he tore his Achilles tendon in his debut game back in Week 1 of the 2023-24 season, both he and the Jets are itching to get back to the field. On the other hand, it could be that the signing of Tyrod Taylor to the tune of $18 million on a two-year deal is a sign that things are over in New York. As we always say, watch this space.