Nothing should strike the modern American patriot as more self-serving, nauseating, and dangerous than false virtue.
After all, no honest person wants big money to dominate politics. At the same time, however, keep in mind that George Washington once ranked among the wealthiest men in America. To defeat tyranny, we need a few modern-day Washingtons.
Tuesday on the social media platform X, billionaire and longtime Democratic donor Nicole Shanahan, who served as former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate in the 2024 election before joining Kennedy as a key member of President Donald Trump’s winning coalition, pledged to fund primary challenges against any of the 13 sitting U.S. senators who might vote against Kennedy’s nomination as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Shanahan’s 114-second clip already had more than 5.3 million views as of Wednesday morning.
The former Democratic donor began by urging viewers to call their senators and demand that they support Kennedy’s nomination.
Then, she reminded two Democratic senators of her financial support for their 2020 campaigns.
“So, this hasn’t been widely reported, but in 2020, I cut large checks to [Democratic Sen.] Chuck Schumer [of New York] to help Democrats flip two Senate seats in Georgia from red to blue,” Shanahan said.
“The two candidates I helped elect, Sen.Raphael Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff, please know I will be watching your votes very closely. I will make it my personal mission that you lose your seats in the Senate if you vote against the future health of America’s children,” she added.
Then, Shanahan turned her attention to a bipartisan list of potentially vulnerable senators. That list included Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and James Lankford of Oklahoma, as well as Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, plus Democrat-supporting independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Do you support primarying every GOP politician who refuses to support Trump’s essential nominees?
Together with Warnock and Ossoff, that lengthy list featured a total of 13 senators on notice.
“While Bobby may be willing to play nice, I won’t,” Shanahan said to her bipartisan targets.
“If you vote against him, I will personally fund challengers to primary you in your next election,” she added. “And I will enlist hundreds of thousands to join me. Big Pharma and Big Ag have exploited us for far too long. It ends now. You’re either on the side of transparency and accountability, or you are standing in the way. The choice is yours. Please choose wisely.”
Dear U.S. Senators,
Bobby may play nice; I won’t. pic.twitter.com/G9SZjZhFYR
— Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) January 29, 2025
According to the OpenSecrets database, before 2023 Shanahan donated exclusively to Democrats, including former President Joe Biden.
From 2023 onward, however, she supported Kennedy, who eventually named her as his running mate.
Readers may take that information and draw from it whatever conclusions they wish. For my money, however, the 2024 election cycle revealed no more surprising superstar than Shanahan.
Recall, for instance, on the eve of the 2024 election, when Trump released the greatest “unity” ad in campaign history. Shanahan appeared prominently in that ad.
In fact, she had one of only seven speaking parts, not counting music star Kid Rock, whose song “American Rock ‘n’ Roll” played in the background.
Moreover, only Trump, Kennedy, and Shanahan had multiple speaking parts.
“What is going on here is deeper than politics. It is deeply spiritual. We are being called to rise above the hatred and the fear and the evil,” Shanahan said in the ad.
What conservative could possibly disagree with that assessment?
NEW: Closing Trump ad released featuring Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr., Nicole Shanahan, JD Vance, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Elon Musk.
Chills. Worth every second of your time.
Gabbard: This election really isn’t about the left versus the right. It’s about we, the people, choosing our… pic.twitter.com/KGpi2n4pjq
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 4, 2024
In other words, Shanahan did not emerge overnight to challenge those 13 senators. She and Kennedy took a massive leap of faith by joining forces with Trump. And their selfless patriotism helped the president win.
Now, every Trump supporter owes Shanahan and the wildly popular Kennedy a debt of gratitude. We must secure the latter’s confirmation, and if it takes threats from a patriotic billionaire, then so be it. The days of clutching pearls and feigning moral superiority must end.
In short, American patriots once built statues to people like Shanahan. Let us keep winning, so we can start doing so once again.
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