Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called for Americans to “universally condemn political violence” and “find our better angels” in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination and a string of politically motivated violent incidents.
“We’ve got to universally condemn political violence, no matter where it is, whether it’s against Charlie Kirk or someone else, it is not OK. We all have to work together to condemn it. We’ve got to find our better angels,” Shapiro, a Democrat, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in an interview that was taped on Friday and aired Sunday.
Shapiro reflected on the multiple attacks just this year, including Kirk’s assassination, the killings of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband in June, and the arson attack at his official gubernatorial residence in April.
“I think we’re at an inflection point as a nation, and I think we can go in a number of different ways. I hope we go the direction of healing, of bringing people together, of trying to find our commonalities, not just focus on our differences,” Shapiro told Welker.
Asked to reflect about the arson incident at the Pennsylvania governor’s residence — which occurred on the first night of Passover, a significant Jewish holiday, while Shapiro and his family slept — the governor spoke about the physical and emotional scars left behind for victims of political violence.
“I want to be very careful, though, not to equate what happened to me and my family to what happened to Charlie Kirk or Speaker Hortman or others,” the governor clarified at first.
“I think this political violence leaves scars. Congressman Scalise and Congresswoman Giffords are examples of the physical scars, scars that you see when they walk or when they talk or when they sit,” Shapiro said. “But it also leaves emotional scars, and I can tell you that I’ve battled that since the attack in April.”
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., survived being shot during a practice session for a congressional baseball game in 2017. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., survived a shooting when a gunman targeted her at a constituent event in Tucson, Arizona, in 2011.
In response to a question about Kirk’s legacy, Shapiro told Welker that he “disagreed with a lot of what [Kirk] espoused, and he probably disagreed with a lot of what I espoused,” adding, “That’s OK.”
“We’re allowed to disagree in this country. In fact, disagreements, when done constructively, is what helps perfect our union,” the governor said, adding later: “The answer to debate and speech that you don’t like is not violence or taking someone’s life. It’s more speech, it’s more debate, it’s more engagement, and that’s what we need more of in our communities.”
Biden’s campaign
After Joe Biden suspended his presidential re-election campaign in July, and Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, her campaign vetted Shapiro to serve as her running mate. She ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her vice presidential nominee.
In excerpts from Harris’ memoir published in The Washington Post last week, the former vice president wrote that she worried “that [Shapiro] would be unable to settle for a role as No. 2 and that it would wear on our partnership.”
Asked by Welker to respond to Harris’ assertions, the Pennsylvania governor said he hadn’t read the book and that last year he “was focused on working my tail off to deny [President] Donald Trump a second term.”
“I crisscrossed the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I went to communities that the campaign didn’t even show up in to try and make clear the dangers I saw in Donald Trump,” he added.
The governor also spoke about Biden’s decision to run for re-election in 2024 and his decision to then drop out just months before Election Day, moves that are still roiling the Democratic Party.
In another excerpt from Harris’ book published in The Atlantic, the former vice president characterized Biden’s decision to run again in 2024 as one of “recklessness” and wrote that “perhaps” she should “have told Joe to consider not running.”
On Friday, Shapiro reacted to Harris’ revelation by emphasizing that he hadn’t read the book and adding, “She can explain what she means by that.”
“Here’s what I can tell you,” he said. “I made a point to speak to the people around the president repeatedly about what I saw were worrying signs here in Pennsylvania, and when I felt that they were not sharing that information directly with the president, I went directly to the president, to the former president, and shared that with him when we met at a coffee shop in Harrisburg.”
The governor added that he was “very direct and very blunt” about what he called “worrying signs” for Democrats electorally when he spoke with Biden.
Looking ahead to 2028
Since November, Democrats have struggled to settle on a unifying message for the party as the Trump administration has attempted to reshape the federal government and worked with congressional Republicans to slash federal spending.
The Pennsylvania governor on Friday said that while he didn’t believe Democrats currently have a clear “leader,” some of the infighting in the party would result in the emergence of a new leader ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
“I think we will have a leader when we go through what I presume will be a necessary, a good, and a productive, robust fight for the nomination in, you know, 2027, 2028,” Shapiro said. “That’s important. That’s healthy. We haven’t had that in a while.”
He also spoke about the current fight between Democrats and Republicans on redistricting to create more favorable maps for one party or another in states like California and Texas.
While acknowledging that redistricting won’t be an option in Pennsylvania because of a divided Legislature, Shapiro said Democrats fighting to redraw maps are doing “what they need to do to fight back.”
“I don’t think there’s any question that you’ve got to fight fire with fire. You’ve got to fight back here,” he added.
Shapiro is widely seen as a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, a primary that could include a handful of his fellow Democratic governors and maybe even Harris.
On Friday, asked whether Harris would be a strong candidate for Democrats in three years, Shapiro demurred, telling Welker, “I think that’s a question for the voters to decide.”
The governor also told Welker that he was still waiting to launch his campaign for re-election in 2026. In response to questions about whether he would run for president in 2028, Shapiro said, “Let me focus on doing my work here in the Commonwealth.”
