Whitmer and Shapiro stump for Harris in Pennsylvania

(The Center Square) – Two prominent Rust Belt governors teamed up in southeastern Pennsylvania on Monday to stump for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Govs. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., and Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., headlined a rally at Wissahickon High School in Montgomery County, highlighting Harris’s legal career and social politics as defining pillars of her presidential potential.

“As district attorney, she put crooks behind bars,” Whitmer said. “It makes me think maybe that's why Donald Trump is so scared of her.

“And let’s be clear: Kamala Harris has more experience than the Trump-Vance ticket combined,” she added.

Shapiro said that Harris is “for the people” and praised her for “fighting every day” for families.

“Vice President Harris has been battle-tested,” he said.

The event comes nine days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and backed Harris to take his place. Since then, party delegates across the nation have pledged to support the vice president at the Democratic National Convention in August.

“Let’s wake up in November and say the words ‘madame president,’” Whitmer said Monday.

Shapiro, widely viewed as a top running mate contender for Harris, endorsed her hours after Biden withdrew. He’s since deflected questions about the campaign vetting process, only committing to help turn Pennsylvania blue in November.

Whitmer, however, said she’s not under consideration, despite early rumors to the contrary.

A Democratic win in Pennsylvania would bode well for Harris’s White House bid, some analysts say , though it could jeopardize her campaign in Midwestern swing states – like Michigan and Wisconsin – where Shapiro’s hardline stance on Israel may turn away voters.

During his speech Monday, Shapiro said Trump is “dangerous” and “destructive” and “afraid to debate” Harris.

He also tied the Republican nominee to Project 2025, a conservative policy agenda developed by The Heritage Foundation.

Trump has said his platform doesn’t include Project 2025. Democrats, however, argue that the plan centers on him – whether he wants it to or not – and promotes far-right policies on abortion, public education and illegal border crossings.

A recent survey showed that Trump is in the lead against Harris in Pennsylvania, as The Center Square previously reported . The vice president, however, has significantly narrowed Trump's lead over Biden, according to the same poll.