WASHINGTON

Independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. tapped California attorney Nicole Shanahan as his running mate Tuesday in his long-shot White House bid. 

Kennedy, who is an environmental lawyer and a fringe anti-vaccine activist, hailed his pick for vice president as "my fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, and a fierce warrior mom." 

"I found exactly the right person, and among other things she has used over the past several years cutting-edge technology, including AI, to calculate the catastrophic health consequences of toxins in our soil, our air and our food," he told supporters in the northern California city of Oakland, Shanahan's hometown.

"I found all of those qualities in a woman who grew up right here in Oakland, the daughter of immigrants who overcame every daunting obstacle, and went on to achieve the highest levels of the American dream," he added.

Some members of the Kennedy family have openly criticized his candidacy, fearing it could inadvertently aid presumptive Republican nominee ex-President Donald Trump's re-election bid.