Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro responds to VP speculation – NBC10 Philadelphia

With Vice President Kamala Harris now the main candidate to succeed President Joe Biden because the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, many are speculating about who she is going to select as her working mate within the 2024 presidential race.

Harris, who arrived at Biden’s marketing campaign headquarters in Delaware on Monday, hasn’t hinted on who she is going to select. Consultants have nonetheless named potential picks nevertheless, together with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Shapiro was requested in regards to the hypothesis whereas he spoke at an occasion in Pittsburgh on Monday.

“I’m not going to interact in hypotheticals,” Shapiro mentioned. “This can be a deeply private choice that the Vice President will make. She’s going to make it on her personal timetable and her personal timeline. She wants to decide on somebody that she’s ready to control with. Marketing campaign with. And somebody that she feels most comfy with and that call must be made freed from any form of political stress.”

Shapiro went on so as to add that he’s at present targeted on doing his job in Pennsylvania.

Gov. Shapiro’s political profession

Shapiro, 51, is midway via his second yr as Pennsylvania’s governor after simply profitable his final election by trouncing a far-right, Trump-endorsed candidate.

Shapiro has additionally been a surrogate for Biden, backing the president in appearances on cable networks, and has years of expertise making Trump the main target of his assaults, first as state legal professional normal and now as governor.

He has received three statewide races — two as legal professional normal, one as governor — with a tightly scripted, disciplined marketing campaign type, providing voters one thing of a lower-key different to the state’s brash political star, Sen. John Fetterman.

As governor, Shapiro has begun to shed a buttoned-down public demeanor and grow to be extra assured and plain-spoken. In a single latest MSNBC look, he mentioned Trump ought to “give up whining” and cease “sh— speaking America.”

Shapiro, who’s Jewish, has aggressively confronted what he seen as antisemitism cropping up from pro-Palestinian demonstrations and has professed solidarity with Israel in its drive to get rid of Hamas.

He’s a staunch proponent of abortion rights in Pennsylvania and routinely promotes his victories in court docket in opposition to Trump, together with beating again challenges to the 2020 election outcomes.

He additionally has positioned himself as a average on vitality points within the nation’s No. 2 pure fuel state and performs up the necessity for bipartisanship within the politically divided state authorities.

Vice President Harris made her first public remarks since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, endorsing her in his place. “I’m first-hand witness that every single day, our president, Joe Biden, fights for the American folks and we’re deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation.”

Shapiro’s ties to Pennsylvania

Whereas Shapiro was born in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, he has deep ties to Pennsylvania, significantly Montgomery County. He grew up in Higher Dublin Township, Pennsylvania, and at present lives in Abington Township.

Montgomery County residents spoke with NBC10 about the potential for somebody from their space turning into a Vice Presidential nominee.

“As a lot as I do like Josh Shapiro, and I believe he shall be a presidential candidate sometime, I don’t know if all people is aware of as a lot about him as we do, fairly frankly,” Ed Friedland of Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, advised NBC10.

No matter whether or not Harris in the end chooses Shapiro, Michelle Gill, of Higher Dublin’s Dresher group, says she’s proud that somebody from her city has achieved a lot already within the political enviornment.

“It’s fairly cool,” she mentioned. “We’ve got a really vibrant space in Higher Dublin and Dresher itself, with quite a lot of historical past. So realizing that somebody with such civic mindedness got here from this space I believe it feels actually good.”