Shanahan and Vaccines 

February 2024: Shanahan Said She “Wonder(ed) About Vaccine Injuries” And Wanted More Screening Of Risks For Vaccinations But Said She Was “Not An Anti-Vaxxer.” According to The New York Times, “In an interview on Monday, Ms. Shanahan said she had given $4 million to the super PAC, American Values 2024, about a week before the game, for the express purpose of helping pay for a Super Bowl ad. She also helped coordinate the ad’s production, she said, including navigating concerns from CBS Sports and Paramount, which broadcast the Super Bowl. ‘It seems like a great opportunity to highlight that he’s running for president,’ Ms. Shanahan said. She said part of her motivation was concern about the environment, vaccines and children’s health, and her belief that Mr. Kennedy was willing to challenge the scientific establishment. ‘I do wonder about vaccine injuries,’ she said, although she clarified that she is ‘not an anti-vaxxer,’ but wanted more screening of risks for vaccinations. ‘I think there needs to be a space to have these conversations.’” [New York Times, 2/12/24] 

February 2024: Shanahan Said There Needed To Be A “Safe Space” To Have “Conversations” About Vaccines And That Calling RFK Jr. An “Anti-Vaxxer” Is The “Most Powerful Way Of Alienating The Progressive Voter” From Him. According to Newsweek, “Kennedy, who is now running as an independent, told Newsweek in July that social media firms routinely remove his posts and he also testified to that assertion before Congress. ‘Real liberals don’t censor,’ he told Newsweek back then, and Shanahan agreed. ‘I find that problematic; I won’t lie. We need to have a safe space to have these conversations,’ she said. Largely, the problematic ‘conversations’ she refers to are Kennedy’s positions on vaccines, though both he and her complain about the label ‘anti-vaccine,’ which they say is a term meant to shut down debate and research. ‘Framing Bobby as an anti-vaxxer is the most powerful way of alienating the progressive voter from his campaign. What he’s highlighting is vaccine safety,’ she said. […] ‘Being called an anti-vaxxer is so unfair to the cause of objectively funding scientific research,’ she said.” [Newsweek, 2/14/24]

February 2024: Shanahan Said She Was A Very Early Adopter Of The Moderna mRNA COVID Vaccine And Its Booster But Since Had “Significant Health Issues,” Which She Would Not Discuss And Said She Did Not Know If They Were Related. According to Newsweek, “Shanahan, 38, said she was a very early adopter of the Moderna MRNA anti-COVID vaccine and its booster, and that her daughter has all of the usual childhood vaccines. […] Shanahan also said she has had ‘significant health issues’ since her mRNA vaccine, though she quickly adds that she won’t discuss details. ‘I don’t know if they’re related, but I’d love to know.’” [Newsweek, 2/14/24]

February 2024: Shanahan Said, “I Do Think That The Increase Of Vaccine-Related Injuries Is Very Alarming, And I Do Think We Need To Understand The Screening Mechanisms.” According to The New York Times, “In her interview with The Times, Ms. Shanahan said that she was ‘not an anti-vaxxer,’ adding that vaccines had historically been a ‘very helpful’ part of public health measures. But she suggested some alignment with theories falsely linking certain childhood vaccinations with autism and other ailments, saying: ‘I do think that the increase of vaccine-related injuries is very alarming, and I do think we need to understand the screening mechanisms.’” [New York Times, 3/26/24]

February 2024: Shanahan Said, “Putting Individual Americans Ahead Of Overseas And Corporate Interests Is What I Like About Trump, But Some Of His Behavior Does Not Align With My Values.” According to Newsweek, “Shanahan doesn’t classify herself as a Trump hater and says that Kennedy is the standard bearer among progressives who wish to see the priorities of Americans take center stage, echoing a theme of the former president. ‘Trump really made a point of putting Americans first. I understand and appreciate that messaging,’ she said. ‘Putting individual Americans ahead of overseas and corporate interests is what I like about Trump, but some of his behavior does not align with my values,’ she said, specifically noting his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. ‘If the goal of the voter is to thrive, wake up each day in the sunlight, take a deep breath and feel good and safe to live in this country, then I really think Bobby is our guy,’ she said.” [Newsweek, 2/14/24]

Shanahan and Elon Musk 

July 2022: Wall Street Journal Reported That Shanahan Had An Affair With Elon Musk In Miami, Florida, In December 2021. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Elon Musk engaged in a brief affair last fall with the wife of Sergey Brin, prompting the Google co-founder to file for divorce earlier this year and ending the tech billionaires’ long friendship, according to people familiar with the matter. […] Mr. Brin filed for divorce from Nicole Shanahan in January of this year, citing ‘irreconcilable differences,’ according to records filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The divorce filing was made several weeks after Mr. Brin learned of the brief affair, those people said. At the time of the alleged liaison in early December, Mr. Brin and his wife were separated but still living together, according to a person close to Ms. Shanahan. In the divorce filing, Mr. Brin cited Dec. 15, 2021, as the date of the couple’s separation. […] The liaison with Mr. Musk took place in early December 2021, at the Art Basel event in Miami, those people said. Art Basel is a multiday, annual festival that draws wealthy attendees from around the world.” [Wall Street Journal, 7/25/22]

Shanahan Said She Had Discussed With Musk How She “Might Think About Helping My Daughter With Her Autism Treatment, Given His Background With Neuralink,” A Neurological Company.” According to People, “Instead, she and Musk had simply talked about ‘how I might think about helping my daughter with her autism treatment, given his background with Neuralink,’ his neurotechnology company, she says. ‘It was a conversation that was very meaningful about life and how people show up for one another. To be painted with such a massive scarlet letter for it just seems so unfair.’” [People, 7/6/23]

Shanahan and QAnon

May 2024: Nicole Shanahan Claimed “Demonic Forces” Have Overtaken U.S. Agencies And Culture. According to Rolling Stone, “In a written address to the gathering that Shanahan posted to X, she declared that ‘Bobby Kennedy can win this next election’ because he ‘understands the deeply troubling, almost demonic forces that have overtaken our agencies, and our culture.'” [Rolling Stone, 6/26/24]

June 2024: Shanahan Listed “Questioning If The Government Might Be Satanically Possessed” As A Value Most Americans Love. According to Rolling Stone, “As part of this persuasion effort, Shanahan on June 22 posted a list on X of things that the alleged ‘uniparty’ hates — a list that also doubled, she wrote, as things that ‘most Americans love.’ […] But one item on the list sticks out like a red flag: ‘7. Questioning if the government might be satanically possessed.'” [Rolling Stone, 6/26/24]

Shanahan and IVF

Shanahan Called IVF “One Of The Biggest Lies That’s Being Told About Women’s Health Today.” According to POLITICO, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate has been a harsh critic of in vitro fertilization, while funding alternative research on extending women’s reproductive years. Nicole Shanahan has for years denounced IVF — calling it ‘one of the biggest lies that’s being told about women’s health today.’ […] In multiple interviews, Shanahan has been public about how she feels about the IVF industry, including one as recently as this February. ‘It became abundantly clear that we just don’t have enough science for the things that we are telling and selling women,’ Shanahan told the Australian Financial Review. ‘It’s one of the biggest lies that’s being told about women’s health today,’ she said.” [POLITICO, 3/28/24]