Kennedy VP Pick Goes Mask-Off Anti-Vax

Nicole Shanahan suggested the Moderna mRNA COVID vaccine should be recalled.

When anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. announced Silicon Valley lawyer and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential pick last month, media outlets were quick to question her views on COVID-19 vaccines.

Several, including Important Context, noted that she had rejected the antivax label while expressing concern for vaccine injury. In an interview with Newsweek, for example, she had defended Kennedy, arguing that “he's not an anti-vaxxer; he's just someone who takes vaccine injuries seriously." But Shanahan has now put that speculation to rest.

On Tuesday, in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Shanahan shared of herself next to her boyfriend, Jacob Strumwasser, vice president of the Bitcoin-related company Lightning Labs, who was wearing a shirt that read, “At least my tin foil hat won’t give me myocarditis”—a reference to a rare but negative side effect of the mRNA COVID vaccines. The jabs are less likely to cause myocarditis than COVID infection, and the instances are generally less severe.

“One of us took 3 doses of the Moderna mRNA vaccine, and the other did not. Guess who?” The post read. “Here is the devastating reality: it is not a safe vaccine, and must be recalled immediately. Many people are suffering who took it.”

Shanahan then gave a shoutout to two controversial doctors from Texas known for their anti-vaccine views—ear, nose, and throat specialist Dr. Mary Talley Bowden and cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough”—who she called “two accounts that provide some helpful insights and resources.”

Both Bowden and McCullough are prolific promoters of quack “early treatments” for COVID like the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin despite the fact that evidence has shown neither is effective against the coronavirus.

According to the profile on her practice’s website, Bowden is on the advisory team of the ivermectin-promoting, anti-vax dark money group Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance as well as a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a right-wing advocacy group known for its past ties to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and penchant for promoting conspiracy theories and medical misinformation related to topics like vaccines and abortion. In the 2000s, the group famously helped tobacco giant Philip Morris combat indoor smoking bans.

In August 2020, AAPS sued the Food and Drug Administration over its revocation of hydroxychloroquine’s emergency use authorization after major studies revealed its ineffectiveness against COVID. Bowden was a party to a later lawsuit against the FDA over its messaging against ivermectin that ended in a settlement.

McCullough has fought his own battle with the FDA. According to a report by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, he was involved in the Trump administration’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get the agency to reauthorize hydroxychloroquine’s emergency use authorization.

Bowden and McCullough have also made outlandish claims about the safety of the mRNA vaccines and promoted the false claim that the jabs are responsible for thousands of sudden cardiac deaths.

In late January, Bowden, a former member of the anti-vaccine, ivermectin-promoting group Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, shared a clip on X from a crowdfunded anti-vaccine film “Shot Dead,” produced by a right-wing dark money group called “We the Patriots USA.” The clip, which shows family discussing their daughter’s death, features McCullough, claiming to an offscreen interviewer that the mRNA jabs can cause cardiac arrest.

“8,986 covid vaccine reported deaths on @OpenVAERS accounting for only 1% of injuries,” Bowden posted, citing unverified alleged vaccine injuries from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database, a notoriously unreliable source. “One family bravely speaks out after @pfizer killed their daughter. @AllenDMartin @WTPatriotsUSA @P_McCulloughMD Vaccine-induced myocarditis causes a permanent scar. How many children are out there with permanent scars?”

In another video shared by Bowden, McCullough states that there ought to be a pause on all new mRNA technology.

Both doctors have faced potential disciplinary action and professional consequences for their anti-vaccine stances—though they are still licensed to practice medicine.

In late 2021, Houston Methodist Hospital suspended Bowden’s provisional hospital privileges over her spreading misinformation related to the vaccines and ivermectin. Bowden reportedly emailed her patients, telling them that her research suggested "the vaccine is not working.” 

The hospital took the extra step of reporting her to the Texas Medical Board and the National Practitioner Data Bank. Bowden later sued the hospital for defamation but her case was dismissed in March 2023. The next month, the Texas Medical Board filed a formal complaint against Bowden with the state Office of Administrative Hearings for allegedly violating the Texas Medical Practice Act. The complaint alleged that she violated the standard of care and acted unprofessionally by attempting to prescribe ivermectin to a COVID patient, as well as violated doctor-patient confidentiality. Bowden’s hearing is scheduled for later this month.

McCullough, meanwhile, lost his job with Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest nonprofit health system in Texas, in February 2021 for reasons that were not made public. Baylor has since distanced itself from his anti-vaccine views and required its employees to be vaccinated. 

In July 2021, the health group sued McCullough for allegedly continuing to use his Baylor titles for media appearances in violation of the terms of his separation agreement. Baylor filed a motion for a restraining order that was later granted by a Dallas County court, arguing that patients may have been avoiding the hospital because of “false affiliations.” In February 2023, the suit was voluntarily dismissed following a settlement. Since the suit was filed, Texas A&M College of Medicine, the Texas Christian University, and the University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine also reportedly cut ties with the doctor as well. 

In October 2022, McCullough was informed by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) that its Credentials and Certifications Committee had recommended revoking his certifications in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease citing his advocacy against the vaccines and claims about COVID.

”In its consideration of this matter, CCC focused particularly on your statements asserting that the mortality risk of COVID-19 is ‘negligible’ for people who are under the ages of 50 or 60, and there is no medical reason for that population to receive COVID-19 vaccines,” the letter read. “The CCC found that those statements are not factual, scientifically based, or consensus driven.”

As of the publication of this piece, McCullough remains certified by the ABIM.