Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday dropped Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) as her running mate in favor of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D), confirming concerns that Shapiro was too pro-Israel and too pro-Jewish.
As Shapiro emerged as the front-runner in the week leading up to the election, there were reports of an internal rebellion within the Democratic Party, mainly due to his strong pro-Israel views, including his skepticism about peace talks.
Last night we heard there was a progressive revolt against VP Shapiro, several White House staffers committed to the Palestinian cause (donning keffiyeh and participating in protests) publicly threatened to resign, and one donor threatened to withhold millions of dollars.
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) August 2, 2024
As Democrats have struggled over the past year to tamp down anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment within the party’s left-wing base, suspicions have begun to emerge that the real reason for the opposition to Shapiro is bigotry.
One observer I got it.“On paper, the vice presidential choice is clear. Shapiro is a very popular governor of a key battleground state with very similar views to the other leading vice presidential candidates. But he is also Jewish, and that is the motivation behind his current campaign – highlighting that a large portion of the Democratic base has a serious anti-Semitism problem.”
The problem has become so serious that Jewish Democratic lawmakers have begun to speak out. via Axios:
An effort to block Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, primarily for his support of Israel, is facing backlash from Jewish lawmakers across the political spectrum.
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The particularly fierce opposition to Shapiro, who is Jewish and whose views on Israel are similar to those of the other vice presidential candidates, is a dynamic that will be all too familiar to some Jewish lawmakers.
“I think there’s a sense that we’re not objective. [on Israel] “It’s not true and it’s not fair to say that because we’re Jewish,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) told Axios.
NBC report:
Eight months later, as Mr. Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor, emerges as a leading contender to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, this vocal constituency of Democrats is closely scrutinizing his record on Israel-related issues, which has become a central argument on the left against adding him to the running.
The scrutiny is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute between factions of the Democratic Party that support President Joe Biden’s approach to the Gaza war and those that staunchly oppose it. It also reignites a parallel fight over rising anti-Semitism at home, as Shapiro, a devout Jew, has a more skeptical view of Israel than other front-runners who hold similar views.
Some Democrats have openly accused Shapiro’s opponents of anti-Semitism, Fox News reported earlier this week.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts, accused what he called “too left-wing” people online of being offensive. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro over his Jewish faith and support for Israel.
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“The far-left online are attacking Josh Shapiro’s pro-Israel positions in a different way than they would attack the positions of a non-Jewish vice presidential candidate, but they’re just indicting themselves,” Auchincloss, who is Jewish, told “CNN This Morning.”
“There’s a strong streak of anti-Semitism there,” he continued, “and that’s unacceptable. Every candidate’s positions on policy issues, their record in elected office, all of that is fair game. Harris will rightly be subject to questioning and questioning by her campaign and observers, but to hold him to a different standard because of his religion is not who we are as a Democratic Party.”
Perhaps desperate to defend his own eligibility to run, Shapiro sought to repudiate some of his long-held views on Israel.
Josh Shapiro should not, under any circumstances, apologize for his views on Israel in order to further his career within the Democratic Party.
The level of cowardice shown here to appease the worst in society is disgusting. pic.twitter.com/eX50ZhlFOC
— James Spiro (@JamesSpiro) August 5, 2024
There may have been other reasons why Harris chose Walz over Shapiro, but while Minnesota is not typically a battleground state, Pennsylvania is expected to be one of the key swing states heading into the November election.
Harris may have felt insulated from allegations of anti-Semitism because her husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish, even though Emhoff has belatedly embraced his Jewish identity and has rarely been vocal in defending Israel against its critics.
In the end, Harris appears to have decided not to risk splitting the Democratic establishment with anti-Israel leftists, and Shapiro was perhaps too pro-Israel, and too Jewish, for Harris to include him on the ticket.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
