Former President Trump jabbed “highly overrated Jewish” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) late Wednesday for what he called a “really bad” speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Shapiro delivered an impassioned speech Wednesday night, warning that the former president would strip Americans of their rights and freedoms if he won the White House in November. Trump responded to the speech on social media, criticizing the Pennsylvania governor and Vice President Harris for doing “nothing” for Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
“The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President,” Trump wrote overnight on Truth Social.
He added, “yet she hates Israel and will do nothing but make its journey through the complexities of survival as difficult as possible, hoping in the end that it will fail.”
The former president also said Shapiro “refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had.”
His comments come after Republicans claimed Harris did not select Shapiro as her running mate because of his faith — an argument many Jewish Democrats have pushed back on.
“I have done more for Israel than any President, and frankly, I have done more for Israel than any person, and it’s not even close. Shapiro has done nothing for Israel, and never will,” the former president continued in his post. “Comrade Kamala Harris, the Radical Left Marxist who stole the nomination from Crooked Joe, will do even less. Israel is in BIG trouble!”
Shapiro was seen as one of the top contenders to be the vice presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket. He received criticism in recent weeks over his stance on the Israel-Hamas war and his handling of pro-Palestinian protests. He responded to Trump’s late night social media post attacking him to reporters on Thursday, according to a video posted by his press secretary.
“I think it’s clear over the last few years, Donald Trump is obsessed with me and obsessed with continuing to skew hate and division in our politics. He’s someone who’s routinely peddled antisemitic tropes like this,” Shapiro told reporters.
“I think you all heard me talk last night at the DNC, the exact polar opposite of what Donald Trump was talking about. I’m talking about real freedom, bringing people together, accepting folks no matter what they look like, where they come from, who they love, who they pray to, saying this is a place for you. That’s diametrically opposed to everything Donald Trump believes, and it’s clear that he’s going to continue to be the hateful, divisive person that he’s always been in this campaign,” he added, noting that Trump is “setting himself up” to lose again in November.
While Harris ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) to be her running mate, Shapiro is slated to be a key ally in the Keystone State, seen as a must-win state for the White House.
“It is Antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way, or perpetuating the centuries-old smear of ‘dual loyalty,’ ” White House spokesperson Herbie Ziskend said in a statement responding to Trump’s attack. “President Biden and Vice President Harris believe we must come together as Americans to condemn and combat Antisemitism – and hate and bigotry of all kinds.”
Shapiro slammed Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, earlier this week for having no credibility to speak about antisemitism while responding to Republicans’ claims that he was not selected to be Harris’s running mate because he was Jewish.
“Well, look, the person leading that effort to inject that into the dialogue is Donald Trump, someone who has absolutely no credibility to speak about antisemitism or hatred or bigotry in any form because he is someone who pushes that into the dialogue. He is someone who divides Americans,” Shapiro told MSNBC’s Joy Reid.
The Hill has reached out to Shapiro’s office and the Harris campaign for comment.
– Brett Samuels contributed
Updated at 11:59 a.m. EDT