Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) slammed former President Trump on Monday, saying that he has no credibility to speak about antisemitism.
Shapiro was on the shortlist to be Vice President Harris’s running mate in the weeks before she announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) would join her ticket. On Monday, MSNBC’s Joy Reid asked him to respond to some Republicans’ claims that he was ultimately not chosen because of his Jewish faith.
“Well, look, the person leading that effort to inject that into the dialogue is Donald Trump, someone who has absolutely no credibility to speak about antisemitism or hatred or bigotry in any form because he is someone who pushes that into the dialogue. He is someone who divides Americans,” Shapiro said.
The battle to join Harris’s ticket became ugly as several progressives criticized Shapiro over his position on the Israel-Hamas war and the handling of pro-Palestinian protests. The attacks prompted criticism from his supporters and other Jewish Democrats, who suggested he was being unfairly targeted because he is Jewish.
Shapiro then referenced Trump’s comments following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017. Trump initially condemned the white supremacists but received backlash when he said there was blame on “both sides,” as well as “very fine people on both sides.”
“There were not good people on both sides. Donald Trump is someone who pushes hate and bigotry into our politics, and so I will not be lectured, and no one should be lectured by Donald Trump on that,” Shapiro said.
“Kamala Harris talks out of both sides of her mouth to appease Hamas sympathizers while Democrats have emboldened antisemitic protests on college campuses,” Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung told The Hill.
“In contrast, President Trump has stood firmly with Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, reaching many historic achievements like the Abraham Accords, moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, eliminating Qasem Soleimani, ending the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal, as well as combatting anti-Semitism in America and abroad.”
Story was updated at 9:49 p.m. ET