Josh Shapiro under partisan fire after Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy visits Pennsylvania

SCRANTON, Pa. (WHTM) — A Pennsylvania city is suddenly at the center of an international incident after a visit from Ukraine’s president Sunday.

What should have been little more than a photo-op has blown up has Governor Josh Shapiro among those taking fire from angry Republicans.

A Ukrainian delegation visited Scranton’s Army Ammunition Plant, including a tour where 155-millimeter howitzer rounds are made. They are considered crucial in Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked workers and signed a shell.

U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Congressman Matt Cartwright, and Shapiro, all Democrats, welcomed the group, which was an unwelcome sight to Republican Speaker of the U.S. House Mike Johnson.

The Speaker called the all-Democrat event Pro-Kamala Harris and politically motivated in a crucial battleground state.

“We’re in the middle of a hotly contested national election,” Johnson said, “and we don’t need foreign countries intervening in and letting their opinions be heard at a time like this.”

In July, Zelenskyy made a similar trip to Utah and met with its Republican governor. No uproar.

Shapiro said Pennsylvanians stand with Ukraine as they fight for their freedom against naked aggression. Like Zelenskyy, Shapiro too signed a shell, which set off Republican State Senator Doug Mastriano, who lost to Shapiro in the race for Governor in 2022.

In an unprecedented and disturbing manner, Shapiro was pictured with a sinister grin signing an artillery round that will be used to kill people with whom the United States is not at war… yet another elite politician eagerly displaying a willingness to send other people’s children to fight and die in another losing war.

Senator Doug Mastriano (R-33)

The Shapiro team isn’t responding, referring all questions to the U.S. Army and the White House, which arranged the Ukrainian visit.

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