Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is managing the kind of moment no politician ever wants to face, and is earning serious praise from Republicans and Democrats alike for his public presence and personal communication.
Shapiro, a Democrat, spent the next 24 hours in the public eye as he gathered intelligence from law enforcement after receiving initial briefings on Saturday’s attempted assassination that killed a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and left former President Donald Trump and two others injured. manned and operated the phones by calling Republican members of Congress attending the rally, President Joe Biden and the Trump campaign.
But the most important call he made, Corey belonged to the Comperatore family, a Trump supporter who was shot and killed. The Comperatore family, who declined a call from Biden, allowed Shapiro to go public with the news of his death and tell his story to the nation when Shapiro arrived at the scene of the shooting less than a day later. A Shapiro administration official said he thought it was “critically important” for the governor to speak with the victims’ families before speaking publicly.
“Korey was the girl’s father. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community,” Shapiro said. “And especially, Corey loved his family.”
He added that the Comperatore family detailed climbing over them to protect them from the fire.
“Corey died a hero,” Shapiro said.
For the Democratic rising star — often touted as a future presidential candidate or even a possible ticket this year amid questions about whether Biden will step aside this summer — the assassination attempt on Trump is the biggest moment and the most difficult national was the test of his career.
So far, Democrats and Republicans alike have praised his handling of the tragedy.
Dave McCormickThe GOP candidate for Senate, who sat in the front row at Trump’s Saturday rally, he tweeted a photo of her and Shapiro meeting Tuesday, adding that she was “grateful” to Shapiro “for her strength and leadership after the tragedy in Butler on Saturday.” who spoke to NBC “Meet the press” Rep. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., said as he left the rally that he appreciated Shapiro hearing him out “right away,” adding that Shapiro said, “Hey, what’s up? What can we do? Do we have enough state troopers?’”
On the floor of the GOP convention on Tuesday, Meuser said Shapiro was “on the job” and “had a great conversation.”
“We’ve known each other for a while,” Meuser said. “We have a difference of opinion on policy and how we can go from A to Z. But it was a good call he made and it was appreciated.”
It was already a politically tense time for Shapiro. He governs Pennsylvania with a divided Legislature, and it is emerging as a major swing state in presidential elections. He’s been watching members of his own party push for the incumbent to drop out of the race — noting that Shapiro didn’t join in, standing with the president alongside officials in his state.
Now he’s also wondering how to get out of the crisis over a rival candidate.
“He sounds like the president,” said one Pennsylvania Democrat. “He’s really good at striking the right tone in these situations and calling the right people.”
“This is a make-or-break moment for Biden,” this Democrat said. “This is a make-or-break moment for the United States. And it’s a make-or-break moment for Josh Shapiro. And he uses the opportunity.”
This person specifically noted that the reaction to Shapiro’s remarks, which were not all that different from Biden’s, was better received than the president’s.
Shapiro he called to “turn down the temperature” and “rise above the hateful rhetoric” for all Americans. He called the assassination attempt “totally unacceptable and tragic.”
“We must remember that even in these times of real disagreement, we must resolve these divisions in a peaceful, political and civil process,” the governor said. “It is incumbent on all political leaders, all parties, and a duty to the public.”
Shapiro has built a bipartisan brand that dates back to his tenure as Pennsylvania attorney general and Montgomery County commissioner. in 2022 NBC News exit poll He defeated Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, giving him 16% of the Republican vote in the gubernatorial election. A Philadelphia Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College A May poll found that 42% of Pennsylvania Republicans approve of his handling of the job.
That reliance on Republicans has come in handy as they try to advance their agenda amid divided government. However, it was very important when removing the consequences of the assassination attempt.
“It’s huge,” GOP state Rep. Natalie Mihalek said of Shapiro’s standing among both Republicans and Democrats. “We all want our leaders to help unite America, not just Pennsylvania. “I think this is a great opportunity for someone like Governor Shapiro to break through partisanship.”
“There have been rumors for years that our governor has political ambitions outside of Pennsylvania,” said Mihalek, who represents the Butler gunman’s district. “And I can’t tell if that’s true or not. If so, I’m sure it’s playing in the back of his mind that we can make no mistake here – not just for his own political purposes, but actually, this is such a landmark moment in America. history.”
Moving forward, Shapiro will continue to sit at the desk as the investigation continues. Shapiro oversees the Pennsylvania State Police, which is part of the law enforcement presence at the Trump rally.
This is not the first crisis the first-term governor has faced in less than two years on the job. Almost as soon as he took office, a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on the Pennsylvania border. Not long after, the I-95 overpass collapsed in Philadelphia, and he moved in to make quick repairs. But nothing compares to this.
“Governors can have pretty mundane policies for years and then major crises arise,” said Jared Leopold, a former top official at the Democratic Governors Association. “He’s dealt with it. … You can either come and show your team and show that you’re in charge, or you can dry up and show that you’re not ready for this moment. Both in the collapse of the highway and in this one … he got stronger. And he is ready now.”
State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, a Democrat, said Shapiro has repeatedly had to “step up” during crises.
“He wants to take credit when things go well, but when things don’t go well, that’s when real leadership skills come into play,” he said. “The governor has been up front and, you know, he’s done a great job of calming Pennsylvanians down and making things better.
Nor is this the first national tragedy Shapiro has faced in his career. He was the state’s attorney general in 2018 when a white nationalist opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 worshipers. Shapiro similarly fled the scene of violence. Shapiro, who is Jewish, at his 2023 inauguration He took the oath of office over the Hebrew Bible From the “Tree of Life” synagogue.
Attorney Bruce Castor, who served with Shapiro on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and later represented Trump in his second impeachment trial, said he expects to meet with Shapiro at this point.
“He’s a thinker and a planner, and he’s very hard to mess with,” Castor said. “And he was certainly as good an administrator as I saw when we were commissioners together. … He’s not some far left wing crank, he’s a guy who works a little to the left or right of center and gets along very well with people who are a little to the right.”
Castor said he is not alone among Republicans.
“We disagree on policy, but as a person, as an administrator, he’s really as good as he gets,” Castor said. “This is a guy who’s trained his whole life for the job he’s in right now, and maybe something else.”