Shapiro lauds Walz ahead of convention speech: Harris ‘made the exact right pick’

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) lauded his party’s vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), ahead of his speech at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night.

“I’m excited for Tim Walz, I’m excited for [Vice President] Kamala Harris,” Shapiro said Wednesday on Fox News’s “Special Report” with anchor Bret Baier. “She made the exact right pick, and I’m looking forward to supportin’ the ticket.”

Shapiro was among multiple names floated as a possible vice presidential pick for Harris before she announced earlier this month that the Minnesota governor had the role. Shapiro previously called him “an exceptionally strong addition to the ticket who will help Kamala move our country forward” in a statement in the wake of the vice president’s decision.

There was strife in the Democratic Party over who would get Harris’s running mate slot before she made her announcement. Progressives voiced concern over Shapiro’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war and previous position on school vouchers. 

However, there was frustration against progressive attacks from those in Congress aligned with Shapiro, especially from Jewish lawmakers who said they hadn’t correctly presented his stance on the Israel-Hamas war and were leaning toward antisemitism.

“Josh’s position on Israel is almost identical to everybody else, but he’s being held to a different standard. So, you have to ask yourself why,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said.

When asked by Baier if he believes “that the Israel-Hamas situation is a divider” for Democrats, Shapiro responded that he is of the view that “it’s really hard to look at a situation where you had 1,200 dead folks in Israel, over 200 hostages, including American hostages, taken on Oct. 7 from a music festival, from a kibbutz, and then thousands of people in Gaza who have been killed, communities destroyed.”

Shapiro later said he believes “what the Democratic Party does is, it understands the suffering on all sides of this and wants to see an end to the war … a return of these hostages and maybe, maybe, just maybe, a pathway towards some peace.”