Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro refuses to be Donald Trump's talking point on antisemitism

CHICAGO – Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro believes former President Donald Trump wants to use him to stoke antisemitism in the Democratic Party and across America.

Shapiro refuses to be that match.

"Donald Trump is the least credible person to listen to when it comes to hate and bigotry and certainly antisemitism," Shapiro told reporters on Monday at the Democratic National Convention. "He's trying to use me. He's trying to use other Jews to divide Americans further."

At appearances across the Democratic National Convention this week, Shapiro said Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t reject him as a running mate because of his religion despite Trump's claims.

He suggested at a Wednesday roundtable with reporters that it was a mutual decision and that based on what Harris wanted in a running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was better suited for the position.

"This was a deeply personal decision for the vice president, and we had a really good conversation, and she laid out her vision. And in the end, it was a deeply personal decision for me as well," Shapiro told reporters during the event, which was hosted by Bloomberg News. "And I think based on what she wants, Tim Walz is an outstanding pick. And for me, I'm a year and a half into a job I absolutely love, where I can have a meaningful impact every single day, and where I get to chart my own course."

Trump singled out Shapiro during a rally in the northeastern Pennsylvania city of Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, just a day before the Democratic convention.

“They turned him down because he's Jewish,” the former president told a crowd, mostly filled with his supporters. "Any Jewish person who votes for her or a Democrat has to go out and have their head examined."

Shapiro is no stranger to antisemitism. Throughout his more than two-decade-long career in politics, the moderate Democrat has proudly professed his Jewish faith, often saying that has fueled his commitment to public service.

In response to Trump’s attack, he was more emboldened. "I want to stand up and condemn all of it,” Shapiro told reporters after a Pennsylvania delegation breakfast on Monday, mentioning antisemitism along with racism and Islamophobia.

A pragmatic mantra

Since his ascension to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in 2023, Shapiro has cast himself as a pragmatic, and charismatic figure in the Democratic Party.

"His voice fills the room like a viscous liquid," said Baybars Charkas, president of Penn State College Democrats. "His charisma levels are off the chart."

Shapiro's approach to politics is summed up by a slightly profane motto: "Get sh-- done" or "GSD."

The motto originated in 2023, just months into Shapiro’s first term as governor. At the time, he was leading efforts to repair Interstate 95 in Northeast Philadelphia after a tanker truck crash caused the road to collapse.

Today, he applies the saying to topics like preserving access to abortion and advocating for voting rights.

"We're proving in Pennsylvania, with the eyes of the nation on us, that we know how to get sh-- done," Shapiro told USA TODAY. “It sums up what people want. Republicans, Democrats, independents, they want their elected leaders to go out and put points on the board for them every day."

Shapiro has never lost a race throughout his two decades in electoral politics ( though he did lose one for student government .)

He was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2004 before flipping the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners to Democratic control in 2011 for the first time. After a six-year stint as Pennsylvania attorney general, Shapiro easily won the governor's race in 2022 over a Trump-backed , far-right state senator − a state Biden narrowly carried two years earlier.

"I'd be in rural communities, and I would talk about abortion rights. I would talk about my faith, which was very different than what a lot of people, how a lot of people pray in some of those communities," he said of his approach on Wednesday.

The convention is proving Shapiro's appeal spreads far past Pennsylvania. He was losing his voice on Wednesday morning, ahead of his prime-time speech, after two packed days of events.

Florida delegate Lourdes Diaz, a Democrat from Broward County, said after seeing him speak at one that she likes everything about Shapiro.

"The way he speaks, his charisma. You get excited. He's not boring,” she said, before pointing to her friend and adding: "We like Jewish men."

When's the window?

Two months ago, before Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, Shapiro’s post-gubernatorial political future appeared clear. The Democratic rising star was widely anticipated to run, amongst a cadre of other moderate governors, for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination.

But Shapiro’s political path has become increasingly murky in the weeks since Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket and picked Walz as her second in command. If Harris wins the presidency in November, she’s likely to seek a second term in 2028. It could be nearly eight years before Democrats have a competitive presidential primary.

Some of Shapiro’s most ardent supporters say they’re not fazed by the prolonged timeline.

Angie Gialloreto, a 95-year-old delegate from Allegheny County has been to every Democratic convention since President Jimmy Carter's campaign for reelection in 1980. She predicted Shapiro will be president “in due time.”

At age 51, Shapiro can wait. He is eligible in Pennsylvania to serve a second term as governor.

"We need him to stay as a governor and keep that state blue," said Danny Fuqua, a delegate from Volusia County, Florida. "But when his time is up, I think he should have a cabinet position. We need him."

Mustafa Rashed, a Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist suggested that Shapiro’s political future is “brighter now,” after the vice-presidential vetting process, than it was before he was floated as a potential pick for Harris.

"I didn't know about (Shapiro) before the vice president vetting, but I love what he stands for. I think he would have been a great vice presidential pick," said Angela Weathers, a Michigan native living in Miami-Dade County, who got a picture with Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Monday. "But I'm loving Tim Walz."

For now, Shapiro appears comfortable in his role as a surrogate for the Harris-Walz ticket. At a virtual roll call during Tuesday evening's convention programming, he personally announced that Pennsylvania's delegation was choosing Harris for the presidential nomination.

"Pennsylvania is the ultimate swing state," Shapiro told reporters after grabbing a photo with Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chair of the Democratic National Committee. "I'm going to do everything in my political power to see to it that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win this election."

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro refuses to be Donald Trump's talking point on antisemitism