Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) said Sunday that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) would be a “fantastic choice” as Vice President Harris’s running mate and rejected concerns that his support for Israel or his Jewish identity would be a problem for the party.
“I talked to Josh not too long ago, and he said to me what he has said publicly, which is, he loves the job he’s doing, and whatever the decision is, it is entirely Kamala Harris’s decision, but boy, oh boy, would he be a fantastic choice,” Dean said on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”
On whether Shapiro is too “pro-Israel” for the party, Dean said, “When I take a look at Josh Shapiro, whom I’ve known for 20 years, who’s been actually a mentor to me, he’d be an ideal choice.”
“He has a love of Israel. He has a belief in a two-state solution and a desire to see that happen. So I think he’d be a terrific running mate on the issue of the Middle East and many other things,” she continued.
Shapiro, one of the final candidates under consideration to be Harris’s pick for vice president, has been the target of progressives who have cast the Jewish governor as too supportive of Israel, with many labeling him “Genocide Josh.”
The heightened scrutiny of Shapiro’s position on Israel has raised concerns by some who point out that his views are not that different from those of other finalists, who are not Jewish.
Asked if Shapiro not being selected would qualify as “evidence of an antisemitism problem in the Democratic party,” Dean said, “Oh, my heavens, no. I don’t believe that whatsoever.”
“That he is Jewish is actually part of his power, his strength. He is a man that is so rooted in family and faith, it’s something I’ve admired about him for a very long time,” Dean continued.
She noted the other contenders for the VP spot are “terrific, talented folks,” adding, “Faith is not going to be a disqualifier, and the Democratic Party condemns antisemitism. That will not be evidence of that at all.”
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