RFK Jr eyes NFL star and wrestling legend as VP picks

US presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr’s campaign has confirmed American football star Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura are on the shortlist to be his vice-presidential running mate.

Campaign officials have not, however, said who else is on that list.

Mr Kennedy, 70, is running for president as an independent.

Independent campaigns must announce a running mate as a prerequisite for securing ballot access in some states.

Mr Kennedy will formally announce his selection on 26 March, his campaign said in a statement on Wednesday.

The running mate pick “will reaffirm the key principles of the Kennedy campaign of restoring the middle class, ending the chronic disease epidemic, unwinding the war machine, and unraveling corporate capture of our government agencies”, it added.

A member of America’s most famous political family and the nephew of President John F Kennedy, Mr Kennedy previously challenged Joe Biden for the Democratic Party’s nomination.

But the environmental lawyer struggled to gain traction, in part due to his vaccine-sceptical views, and launched an independent bid last October.

He now faces a battle to get his name on the ballot in most or all 50 US states, some of which require the ticket to name a second in command to be eligible.

Mr Rodgers, 40, a star quarterback who currently plays for the New York Jets, was injured at the start of his first game last season but he has vowed to return to the game in 2024.

Off the field, he has been criticised for his anti-vaccine views and other controversial statements.

Mr Kennedy recently posted a picture of them hiking together. According to public remarks from two friends, Mr Rodgers was at an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica when the news of his potential selection first broke on Tuesday.

It’s unclear how the athlete could combine a vice-presidential campaign with a gruelling NFL season that would clash with November’s election. Representatives for the New York Jets did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Mr Ventura, 72, is a professional broadcaster and actor who worked for 11 years with World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE).

He was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998 as a member of the Reform Party, defeating both the Democrat and Republican nominees in an upset victory.

Mr Ventura served one four-year term and since leaving office has regularly hinted about re-joining the political fray.

Starting in 2017, he hosted a show on Kremlin-owned RT America until the station ceased operations after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Last month he appeared at a campaign event with Mr Kennedy in Arizona.

“No one has officially asked Gov Ventura to be a Vice Presidential nominee so the Governor does not comment on speculation,” his son, Tyrel Ventura, said in a statement.

Mr Kennedy has also reached out to a number of other potential candidates, according to US media reports.

They include former Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, former Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown and motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

Most of those approached did not progress further, or the people involved turned Mr Kennedy down, according to the New York Times.

Ballot access rules for independent presidential candidates vary widely from state to state, with most requiring candidates to collect signatures before a summer deadline.

The Kennedy campaign says it has so far qualified in four states – Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire and Hawaii.

American Values 2024, a political action committee backing Mr Kennedy – and which bankrolled a Super Bowl advertisement for his candidacy – says it has collected enough signatures to get his name on the ballot in Arizona and Georgia.