Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has reportedly expressed caution about Vice President Kamala Harris choosing Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate.
Aides to Mr. Shapiro conveyed Ms. Harris’ concerns to the campaign, including that Mr. Shapiro was too focused on “his own personal ambitions.” According to PoliticoThe newspaper reported the story citing three people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, Fetterman and Shapiro clashed over the process of pardoning and commuting prisoners while serving together on the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons.
Since President Biden announced he was dropping out of the race in July, Shapiro has been one of the leading contenders to be Harris’ running mate.
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According to new reports, Senator Fetterman, one of the most prominent figures in the Democratic Party, has warned against Vice President Harris choosing Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro as her running mate. (Getty Images)
But Shapiro’s staff said the governor’s record on criminal justice reform is clear.
“The Governor evaluates each pardon case individually and on its merits, and has approved more pardons and commutations during his tenure as Attorney General than all previous governors combined over the past 25 years,” Shapiro spokesman Will Simmons told Politico. “The Governor is proud of his track record of achieving meaningful criminal justice reform while making Pennsylvania communities safer.”
Fetterman remains “fully and enthusiastically supported by Kamala Harris,” one of the people said, citing his team, who said Fetterman’s advisers had made a “candid assessment of Shapiro, not based on policy differences or other public issues.”
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As the race to be Harris’ running mate intensifies, Shapiro has also been forced to defend his stance on Israel in recent days. (Ryan Collard/AFP via Getty Images)
As the race to be Harris’ running mate intensifies, Shapiro has come under pressure in recent days to defend his stance on Israel.
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The Philadelphia Inquirer uncovered an essay that Shapiro wrote for the Campus Times, the student newspaper at the University of Rochester, where he graduated in 1995.
“The Palestinians cannot coexist peacefully together,” Shapiro wrote in the 1993 article, “and even with Israeli and American help, they are incapable of building and successfully establishing their own homeland.”
Shapiro, Fetterman and the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken contributed to this report.
