Former President Trump said Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (Democrat) would not have been a good choice to run alongside Harris, calling him a “terrible man.”
“I know Josh Shapiro. He’s a terrible guy and he’s not very popular with anybody,” Trump said at a news conference Thursday from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Harris ultimately chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (Democrat) as her running mate on Tuesday.
The decision comes as the race to join Harris has grown increasingly fierce, as many progressives have criticized Shapiro for his handling of Israel’s war with Hamas and pro-Palestinian protests. The attacks have sparked backlash from Shapiro’s supporters and other Jewish Democrats, who say he is being unfairly targeted because he is Jewish.
At the press conference, Trump said he thought Waltz “would have been better than Josh Shapiro.”
“I think she had other good options than Josh Shapiro, but Josh Shapiro was not one of them,” he said. “He did a lot of damage to a lot of people.”
The former president said he didn’t think Shapiro was better than Waltz, “maybe as good, but maybe not that much better.”
Trump’s comments criticizing Shapiro’s record differ from previous statements he has made about the Pennsylvania governor.
He told Fox News on Wednesday that he felt Shapiro would have been a better choice than Walz, repeating the assertion made by other Republicans that he was not selected because of his Jewish heritage.
Harris’ choice of Waltz appears to have eased Republican concerns.
As she mulled over a running mate, Republicans expressed misgivings about Shapiro’s possible selection, especially given his track record of winning state seats in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania and his record as a moderate governor.
Walz’s joining with Harris has sparked Republican attacks on his progressive record, and Trump said Wednesday he “couldn’t be more excited” about the selection of Walz and his liberal ideas.
