RFK Jr.'s Billionaire Ex-Running Mate Threatens Senators Who Vote Against His Confirmation: 'Please Choose Wisely'

Billionaire Nicole Shanahan is sending a stunning message to senators who feel skeptical about Robert F. Kennedy's nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Kennedy's 2024 running mate posted a video message in which she promised that she will use her wealth to unseat lawmakers who vote against confirming him as the HHS secretary.

In the video, Shanahan, 39, calls Kennedy, 71, "proven, principled and prepared to lead," before sharing that he needs every vote he can get as his Senate confirmation looks uncertain.

"This hasn’t been widely reported, but in 2020 I cut large checks to [Democratic Senate Leader] Chuck Schumer to help Democrats flip two senate seats in Georgia from red to blue," she says in the video.

The Silicon Valley attorney continues: "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."

After suggesting that there were strings attached with her support of the Georgia Democrats, Shanahan begins listing additional senators on both sides of the aisle who have not revealed how they plan to vote, including Republicans Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis and James Lankford; Democrats Cory Booker, John Fetterman and Catherine Cortez Masto; and independent Bernie Sanders.

"This is a bipartisan message and it comes directly from me," she adds in the video. "While Bobby may be willing to play nice, I won’t. If you vote against him, I will personally fund challengers to primary you in your next election. And I will enlist hundreds of thousands to join me."

The message concludes: "You’re either on the side of transparency and accountability or you are standing in the way. The choice is yours. Please choose wisely."

Related: Senate Votes on Trump's Cabinet Nominees: Tracking Everyone Who Has Been Confirmed So Far

Shanahan's warning video was posted hours after Kennedy's cousin, Caroline Kennedy, publicly urged the Senate to oppose his nomination, calling him a "predator" who is "addicted to attention and power."

Also in Caroline's blistering message to senators — which a source told PEOPLE was "a complete departure" from her usual hesitance to speak out against family members — she alleged that her cousin "preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, vaccinating his own kids while building a following hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs."

Related: Caroline Kennedy Alleges Her Cousin RFK Jr. Put Mice in Blenders and Worse: All the Claims in Her Shocking Takedown Video

Kennedy's vaccine skepticism has been credited as one of the reasons why Shanahan was drawn to his independent presidential campaign.

Though she previously told The New York Times that she does not consider herself an anti-vaxxer, she has outwardly questioned scientific consensus on vaccines and said that her fringe doctor attributed vaccines as a contributing factor to her daughter's autism diagnosis — a theory that has been repeatedly debunked.

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Kennedy's confirmation hearings began on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and will continue into Thursday, Jan. 30, before the Senate Finance Committee votes on whether to recommend his confirmation as Donald Trump's secretary of health and human services.

If the committee recommends him, then the full Senate — which is controlled by Republicans in a 53-47 split — will vote on whether to approve his nomination. Kennedy needs more than 50% of the Senate's support to be confirmed, and Vice President J.D. Vance will serve as a tie-breaker vote in the event of a 50-50 split.

Heading into his confirmation hearings, several senators had declined to go on the record about how they intend to vote.

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