All posts tagged "josh shapiro"

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro denounced Donald Trump for singling out immigrants in a small town in his state.

The former president claimed Haitian migrants had “inundated" Charleroi, in southwestern Pennsylvania, after claiming immigrants from that Caribbean nation were stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, but Shapiro concurred with the small town's mayor and told The New Republic's Greg Sargent that Trump's comments were nonsense.

"It’s complete and utter bulls---," Shapiro said. "He’s been called out on it by the town manager. He’s been called out on it by the Republican state senator who represents, quite honorably, that community. He’s been called out on it by local officials and others who have said what Donald Trump is saying is absolutely false. By the way, what Dave McCormick, the guy running for Senate against Bob Casey, has said about it is absolutely false."

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"Charleroi is a wonderful community in Washington County, Pennsylvania, a community that has seen migrants contribute to their economy, contribute to their community," Shapiro added. "You’ve heard that from residents in the area. Charleroi is also a community that’s facing serious economic challenges. Instead of actually offering something that’s going to help them address their economic challenges, Donald Trump goes and s---- on the community. It’s not only disrespectful, it’s really dangerous."

Trump puts individuals and communities at risk when he singles them out, the governor said, and shows why he's unfit for another term as president.

"Laurie and I are blessed to have four kids," Shapiro also said. "We try and teach our kids to love thy neighbor, to treat people as you would want to be treated. Basic common sense values, values that have been a law around since biblical times. Donald Trump fails that basic test of what we want for our kids, the way we all try to raise our kids. Charleroi and his attacks there, his attacks in Springfield, Ohio, which were of a similar way, just is really not only reprehensible from the standpoint of someone who wants to lead the nation. It’s reprehensible from the standpoint of someone who just failed the basic lessons that we try and teach our children."

The campaign for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sought to quietly "kneecap" Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in the days leading up to Kamala Harris' much-anticipated choosing of Tim Walz as her running mate.

Trump's team knew it did not want the more moderate Shapiro to become the Democratic vice presidential candidate — and formed a "de facto alliance with the enemy of its enemy": the progressive left, The Bulwark's Marc Caputo reported Tuesday.

An adviser to Trump, who remained anonymous, told the publication that they "amplified the leftists on Twitter" against Shapiro.

"We fed Shapiro oppo [opposition research] to the media. We did what we could to create more noise and discontent,” the adviser said, adding they did not do the same with Walz.

The effort led to increasing opposition from the progressive left on some of Shapiro's stances, such as his pro-Israel views, and the term “Genocide Josh" gained traction on social media.

The Trump team reportedly breathed a sigh of relief when Walz became the pick — and even celebrated the selection.

Read also: 'Caution is warranted': WaPo warns of weak spot in Tim Walz's appeal

Shapiro appeared to command a raucous crowd at Temple University in Philadelphia on Tuesday night as he stumped for Harris, with chants of "G-S-D" erupting after he shared the meaning behind the profane acronym, which he called one of his pillars.

"Y'all fill my heart," Shapiro said at the rally. "And I love you so much. And I want you to know, every single day I go to work for you. I put my shoulder to the wheel. And I focus on three simple letters in our alphabet. G-S-D. I focus on getting s--- done for all of you!"

Also a talented orator, Walz brought his style of humor to the rally, leaning into his own "weird" attack at MAGA Republicans — and using meme culture to dig at his GOP counterpart.

" J.D. Vance literally — literally — wrote the foreword for the architect of the Project 2025 agenda," said Walz, before laying into Vance for writing a book disparaging America's "heartland."

"I gotta tell you. I can't wait to debate the guy," Walz said, as the audience burst into cheers. "That is, if he's willing to get off the couch and show up."

In 1993, a bright-eyed 20-year-old Josh Shapiro wrote in his college newspaper that peace “will never come” to the Middle East, and claimed he was a "past volunteer in the Israeli army."

But the now-51-year-old Pennsylvania governor — and top contender to become presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' running mate — has seemingly abandoned those statements.

“Palestinians will not coexist peacefully,” Shapiro wrote in the opinion piece for the university newspaper, which was titled “Peace not possible."

“They do not have the capabilities to establish their own homeland and make it successful even with the aid of Israel and the United States. They are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own," he said, according to reporting from The Philadelphia Inquirer.

On Friday, Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro, told the newspaper in a statement that Shapiro's views have evolved since then. He now supports a two-state solution.

“Governor Shapiro has built close, meaningful, informative relationships with many Muslim-American, Arab-American, Palestinian Christian and Jewish community leaders all across Pennsylvania,” Bonder told the Inquirer.

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“The governor greatly values their perspectives and the experiences he has learned from over the years—and as a result, as with many issues, his views on the Middle East have evolved into the position he holds today,” the spokesman said.

At a news conference Friday, Shapiro told reporters: "I was 20."

“I have said for years, years before Oct. 7, that I favor a two-state solution—Israelis and Palestinians living peacefully side-by-side, being able to determine their own futures and their own destiny," he said, according to Jewish News Syndicate.

Additionally, Bonder said, Shapiro didn't participate in any military activities in Israel and did not volunteer in the Israeli army.

As a high-schooler, he completed service projects in the country including on an army base. He also worked on a farm and at a fishery in a kibbutz, a type of collective community settlement.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Josh Shapiro's age. The article has been updated.