In a new interview with 28/22 news, PA Gov. Josh Shapiro obviously doesn’t rule out or rule in running for president in 2028.
No surprises there.
The interesting thing to note is that he seems to imply that he took himself out of the running to be Kamala Harris’ Veep.
Shapiro tells 28/22: “I think they [Pennyslvanians] also saw this summer just how much I love this job and how I don’t want to leave it.”
Interesting.
Soon after Harris picked Walz, CBS News Philadephia reported that Shapiro had called Harris and expressed reservations about potentially being chosen, but is he inching his way towards publicly declaring that here?
Let’s get back to that, but first here’s the relevant exchange in the interview.
ANDY MEHALSHICK: Do you have your sights set on, at all, maybe running for president. Some people say that probably if you were on the ticket, maybe the Democrats would have won the White House. But moving forward…. what do you think?
SHAPIRO: Look, I love what I do as governor. I’m so damn proud to be the 48th governor of Pennsylvania and I work my tail off and I think people see that in Pennsylvania. They see me showing up in their community, working hard, and putting points on the board, and delivering real results.
I think they also saw this summer just how much I love this job and how I don’t want to leave it. I’m proud to keep doing this work as governor…. I think the model for what we’re doing here in Pennsylvania can be a model for the other states in terms of being able to look to us on how to make progress.
ANDY MEHALSHICK: Are you ruling it out or not ruling out?
SHAPIRO: I love being governor.
Okay, so there’s the exchange.
Now back to the very interesting implication from Shapiro himself in a public forum that he, in some form, rejected Veep.
After Harris picked Walz, there was widespread speculation over why she might have passed on Shapiro, who was seen as a much more effective Veep pick by pundits.
Some said Harris passed over Shapiro because he was Jewish and the party’s far Left was currently in the grips of a “River to the Sea” movement that might have fiercely objected (“Genocide Josh” was a nickname the far left circulated).
Or she passed over him because she a) simply didn’t get along as well with him as she did Walz and b) worried about his ambition.
CNN did a very good piece of reporting on the latter theory.
Shapiro – who was favored by some of the Democratic Party and anti-Trump Republicans as a more moderate selection – did not go over as well with Harris’ team during his vetting interview, sources familiar with the process told CNN. While Walz came across as deferential and cooperative, Shapiro struck some as overly ambitious, with “a lot of questions” about what the role of the VP would be.
And while Shapiro did “very well” in his in-person meeting with Harris on Sunday, multiple sources said, Walz was seen as a pick that would come with less drama and palace intrigue – both on the campaign trail and, if they win in November, at the White House.
“It was a striking contrast” between the two, said the source familiar with the meeting.
Meanwhile, as I said earlier, CBS Philly reported that Shapiro privately expressed reservations to Harris, after sensing their meeting didn’t go well.
Shapiro’s team felt the Harris interview did not go as well as it could have, according to multiple sources familiar with the vetting process. On Sunday following his interview, Shapiro called the Harris campaign and expressed reservations about leaving his job as governor, the sources said.
Of course, there’s never just one reason why someone is or isn’t chosen, but it seems that it was many things that led to Harris picking Walz.
But until now, I’d never heard Shapiro himself, in a public forum, imply that he turned down the gig.
Either way, he’s probably better off for 2028, having avoided being on the losing ticket.
Here’s the video, courtesy of 28/22 News:
