Josh Shapiro Goes to War With Kamala Harris

When former Vice President Kamala Harris passed over Josh Shapiro—the popular governor of the must-win state of Pennsylvania—in favor of perpetually befuddled (and subsequently scandal-plagued) Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to join her presidential ticket, many assumed there was bad blood between the two. And that certainly appears to be the case: In his new book, Shapiro side-eyes the Harris campaign for seeking to relegate him to the role of extreme junior partner, insisting that he walk back certain policy statements, and asking whether he was an Israeli double agent.

This last issue generated significant coverage on social media this week. The mainstream media treated it as big news. Some Democrats expressed frustration with Team Harris and suggested that the question was inappropriate. In grilling Shapiro—who is notably Jewish, and who was the victim of an arson attack during Passover—on his views regarding Israel, Harris’ people were implicitly playing into the noxious stereotype that Jews are more loyal to the state of Israel than to the United States. Shapiro himself seemed to feel this way about the question: He writes in the book that he was offended by the line of inquiry, and told the Harris campaign as much.

As I wrote in response on X, I like Shapiro much more than Harris’ other potential veeps; indeed, I like him much more than I like Harris. It’s crystal clear she should have picked him instead of the uninspiring Walz.

Yet it does not seem to me like these questions should have been deemed unreasonable. If Shapiro were merely asked about his ties to Israel because he is Jewish, then yes, that would have been scandalous. But Shapiro also spent five months living and studying in Israel during his college years, which included volunteering with the Israeli Army, according to The New York Times. Shapiro has subsequently claimed that this involved service projects on a military base: He did not perform military duties or activities.

There is nothing wrong with any of that, but in an election that involved Israel as a significant wedge issue for the Democratic coalition, Shapiro could have expected questions about it from voters and the media. It seems odd, then, for him to take umbrage with the Harris campaign for due diligence. The campaign also asked Walz about his ties to China, which were far more extensive. In retrospect, they should have looked more closely at his actual record of governance in Minnesota, which has not aged well.

Harris doesn’t seem to generate very much positive media coverage these days: A typical, recent profile of her in Politico essentially makes the point that there isn’t a particular constituency clamoring for her to return to politics, even though she appears determined to make another go of it. If anything, it’s Shapiro who now generates glowing mentions: See this profile of him from The Atlantic in December. It begins: “It is a rare thing to see Josh Shapiro sweat.” If that’s true, then he shouldn’t take offense at being asked about his time abroad.

Another Shapiro moment that caught my eye: After Shapiro criticized Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the official HHS X account unleashed on him for having “forced masks on babies and toddlers” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Josh Shapiro forced masks on babies and toddlers. https://t.co/m6Ddo7j4fG pic.twitter.com/1lPZ5SuZ1d

— HHS Rapid Response (@HHSResponse) January 22, 2026

There’s just one problem: Shapiro was not the governor during the COVID-19 pandemic. He took office in 2023.

That tweet referenced and screenshotted by HHS was not written by Shapiro, but rather by his predecessor, former Gov. Tom Wolf, from the official governor of Pennsylvania social media account. When a new governor assumes the position, he inherits the account, and the little profile icon changes. If a Republican were eventually elected governor of Pennsylvania, you could make it look like he had written in favor of masking toddlers, too.

This can produce some pretty amusing results. Glenn Greenwald called attention to this old X post from former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that now looks like it was written by Mayor Zohran Mamdani:

That Zohran took over the @NYCMayor account without deleting all of the old tweets from Eric Adams and Bill De Blasio, or doing anything else to prevent old tweets from appearing under his name, will be a never-ending source of confusion (and amusement): https://t.co/r609R5ofxm

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 8, 2026

I ran out of time to turn in this newsletter the last two weeks—and I apologize for that!—so I am late weighing in on this: Two left-of-center comedians issued groveling apologies after (correctly) pointing out that Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D–Texas) is not going to win the Texas Senate race and Democrats would be better off spending their money elsewhere.

Matt Rogers: “Don’t waste your money sending to Jasmine Crockett.”

Bowen Yang: “I must agree.” pic.twitter.com/ljM5dVaoVJ

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) January 8, 2026

“I have great respect and admiration for Rep. Crockett, and I regret that my words suggested otherwise,” said Matt Rogers in a statement. “I just want us to win and I will be better at finding ways to help.”

He had it right the first time, and in any case, there was zero reason to apologize for slagging Crockett. I suspect the reason he did so was because he faced pushback from online progressives along the lines of How dare he criticize a black woman! Of course, he did not criticize her because he harbors racism or sexism; he criticized her because she is a thoroughly unimpressive and gaffe-prone candidate who is obviously far less likely to win a general election in Texas—a red state—than her opponent, James Talarico. Remember when she accused Republican opponents of taking money from Jeffrey Epstein…but it was a different Jeffrey Epstein?

I am joined by Amber Duke to discuss the news of the week.

Also, are you watching Freed Up, my new show with Christian Britschgi? It’s taking the world by storm!

Many people have asked for an update on my fantasy novel, so here it is: It’s coming along! Obviously I missed my self-imposed, very aggressive deadline of January 1. Nevertheless, I have completed about two-thirds of it, maybe more. A third of that is in really good shape and only requires minimal editing, and another third is done but needs serious revision. The last third is still being written. My new plan is to finish by the end of next month. That’s probably a bit ambitious, but progress is progress.