Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) on Monday slammed former President Trump, saying he lacks the credibility to speak out against anti-Semitism.
Shapiro had been mentioned as a possible running mate for Vice President Harris for weeks before Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced he was joining his candidacy. On Monday, MSNBC’s Joy Reid asked him to address claims by some Republicans that he was ultimately not chosen because of his Jewish faith.
“Well, look, the person who is leading the effort to inject that into the conversation is Donald Trump. He has absolutely no credibility to talk about anti-Semitism or hate or bigotry in any form, because he’s the one who’s pushing that into the conversation. He’s the one who’s dividing Americans,” Shapiro said.
The fight to join Harris’s ticket turned ugly when some progressives criticized Shapiro’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war and pro-Palestinian protests. Those attacks drew criticism from his supporters and other Jewish Democrats, who argued that he was being unfairly targeted because he is Jewish.
Shapiro referenced Trump’s comments following the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump initially condemned white supremacists, but faced backlash when he said there was blame on “both sides” and that there were “very fine people on both sides.”
“There were no good people on either side,” Shapiro said. “Donald Trump is someone who is pushing hate and bigotry into our politics, so I’m not going to listen to him, and no one should listen to him.”
“Kamala Harris is talking two-faced to appease Hamas supporters, while Democrats are fanning anti-Semitic rallies on college campuses,” Trump campaign communications director Stephen Chung told The Hill.
“In contrast, President Trump has stood firmly with our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel, and achieved many historic accomplishments: the Abraham Accords, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, eliminating Qasem Soleimani, ending the horrific Iran nuclear deal, and combating anti-Semitism in the United States and abroad.”
The story was updated at 9:49 p.m. ET.
