(New York Post) A Democratic lawmaker on Friday renounced recent efforts by the “far left” to dissuade Vice President Kamala Harris from choosing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, asserting that the narrative is based in “antisemitism.”
In the days after President Biden dropped his 2024 bid and endorsed Harris to replace him at the top of the ticket, an anti-Shapiro website called “No Genocide Josh” launched, calling on Harris not to choose him as her VP.
The anti-Shapiro website says Shapiro “has opposed a ceasefire in Palestine.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) blasted the anti-Shapiro campaign in statement on X.
“Every potential nominee for Vice President is pro-Israel. Yet only one, Josh Shapiro, has been singled out by a far-left smear campaign calling him ‘Genocide Josh.’ The reason he is treated differently from the rest? Antisemitism. The antisemitic far left must never be given veto power over the selection of a presidential running mate,” Torres said.
The Pennsylvania governor, who is Jewish, has been reported as one of several veep candidates on Harris’ radar, given his outspoken support for her campaign in a critical battleground state.
During his 2022 gubernatorial bid, Shapiro won endorsements from the Jewish Democratic Council of America as well as several labor groups in the Keystone State — both of whom represent voting blocs that helped Biden to victory in the 2020 election.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff appeared on a Wednesday Zoom call with the Jewish Democratic Council of America and Jewish Women for Kamala to affirm Harris would back Israel as the commander in chief, CNN reported.
“I’m going to keep living openly like a Jew and maybe there will be a mezuzah on the White House, like there is on the vice president’s residence,” Emhoff said hopefully.
Some columnists are warning that one of the only ways Harris can “screw” up Democratic unity is to pick Shapiro as her No. 2.
“Unfortunately, Shapiro also stands out among the current field of potential running mates as being egregiously bad on Palestine,” a writer for The New Republic wrote. “It’s not just that he, like many Democrats, is an outspoken supporter of Israel — though he certainly is, having championed Israel’s war against Hamas consistently and without any apparent concern for Palestinian civilians.”
“Shapiro has, moreover, done far more than most Democrats to attack pro-Palestine antiwar demonstrators, in ways that call into question his basic commitment to First Amendment rights,” the writer added.
Other columnists have also weighed in.
Pamela Paul, writing for the New York Times, said, “the unfortunate rise of antisemitism in this country (see: Shapiro) makes a Jewish presidential candidate a hard sell right now.”
New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg also wrote that “until about five minutes ago, everyone worried that the Democratic convention was going to be thrown into chaos over Gaza. A lot of those tensions have died down, in part because voters angry at Biden’s Israel policy are more comfortable with Harris, who is reported to be more sympathetic to the Palestinians.”
“Choosing Shapiro, who is ardently pro-Israel and outspoken in his condemnation of the recent campus protests, would rip those wounds open again,” she added.
