AMBLER, Pa. – Govs. Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer — both considered running mates for Vice President Kamala Harris — held a joint rally around Philadelphia on Monday where they drew contrasts between the new Democratic standard-bearer and the former president. Donald Trump.
Shapiro, of Pennsylvania, and Whitmer, of Michigan, drew a crowd of more than 1,000, including many who said they were intrigued by what they heard from Harris’ recent VP pick.
“How good is John Shapiro?” Whitmer said. “Well, he’s done a lot in the last year and a half. And it’s another example of Democratic governors believing in our three-part strategy: Get the job done.”
The crowd shouted in response: “Get a job!” Let it be over—!”
Shapiro, along with others such as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, are among the top contenders for the No. 2 spot, while Whitmer said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he’s “contacted everybody, including the campaign, I’m running for governor in Michigan.” I have undertaken to do so.
Governor of North Carolina. Roy CooperAnother main candidate, who is considered, withdrew his name from the discussion on Monday night.
Whitmer and Shapiro cemented their status as Democratic rising stars when they won big in the 2022 election. Monday’s rally in Montgomery County — Shapiro’s home — was the first time they’ve held a rally together.
They talked about Harris’ career as a prosecutor, from his time as a district attorney in San Francisco to California attorney general, whom Shapiro described as “tough as nails.” They compared his candidacy with Trump’s candidacy and said that he is a “true supporter of freedom”.
“Pennsylvanians are a lot like Michiganders and Wisconsinites,” Whitmer said. “We disagree on the Big 10 football season, but we have a lot in common. We care about each other. We are willing to show up and do hard, hard work, and we’re proud of it, but we expect our freedoms to be protected.”
“We are, as Governor Shapiro said, the side of true freedom for Americans,” he added.
Shapiro zeroed in on Project 2025, the president’s transition plan and policy blueprint for the incoming Republican administration, which Democrats have targeted in their ads and remarks for weeks. Trump has distanced himself from the initiativeled by many officials of the administration.
“He’s dangerous, he’s destructive, and the guardrails have been cut,” Shapiro said of Trump. “And here’s another thing: He told us what he wanted to do. Everyone, go open the whole Project 2025 thing. Go see what his friends and all his former employees have written. … It’s really scary.”
Shapiro also mocked Trump imitates him he goes to the flag and hugs it.
“When he gets on stage, he’s kind of hunched over, he can’t walk very well, and he walks up to the flag and hugs the flag,” Shapiro said. “And I love the flag, but it’s a strange thing to do, isn’t it? … When he’s hugging the flag, you know what he’s doing? He takes away our freedoms.”
Democrats have stepped up their attacks on Trump’s age since 81-year-old President Joe Biden dropped out of the race this month. They also tried to paint the 78-year-old Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, as “weird.”
Whitmer was intent on criticizing both Trump and Vance.
“To be clear, Kamala Harris has more experience than the sum of the Trump-Vance ticket,” he said, adding of Vance: “She’s really made her values very clear lately. She doesn’t see women as equal. She doesn’t want everyone to have a seat at the table. He is afraid of us.”
“As Democrats, we want everyone to have a seat at the table,” he said 2021, he said before pointing to the comments which Vance criticized Democratic leaders as “childless cat ladies.” “I mean, even cat and dog lovers.”
Rally-goers in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, said they were re-energized by Harris’ rise to the top of the ticket after Biden’s decision to step aside.
Voter Linda LaVay, 64, of Upper Gwynedd, said it was the first political rally she had ever attended.
“I want to know how we’re going to move forward,” he said before Shapiro and Whitmer took the stage. “How are we going to keep this momentum going?”
But with Harris so new to the ticket, LaVay said he wanted to hear more about the overall Democratic platform and what policies Harris would advocate for. He added that he wants Democrats to be more open about recent policies to stem the flow of migrants crossing the U.S. border with Mexico.
Voter Naveen Ithikkat of Blue Bell said he and his wife will be able to vote for the first time this fall after recently becoming U.S. citizens. Although they consider themselves liberal-leaning, the attorneys said they were worried about Biden being the party’s nominee.
“At the time, we weren’t sure we could vote for Biden, given his age,” she said.
But Harris is a more attractive option, Ithikkat said. Also, there is a possibility that their governor Shapiro could be his assistant.
“I think we’re all Josh Shapiro fans,” Jaycy Ithikkat said. “And the fact that he is one of the VP candidates definitely brought us to today’s rally.”
Shapiro, 51, He is a first-term governor He has solid approval ratings in the House, including among Republicans. Pennsylvania Democrats supported him Being on the ticket, though some on the left expressed concern about its possibility, strong condemnation of the pro-Palestinian protesters, his support of school vouchers and dealing with allegations of sexual harassment legislative assistant.
Shawn Dougherty, secretary and treasurer of Teamsters Local 107, offered concerns about Shapiro because his running mate was too many.
“That’s my man,” he said. “We have been with Josh since he started his career. But what is more important is that he has been with us, the employees, since the day he started working.
“He’s very talkative,” Dougherty said. “He is a great speaker. He can receive any message he needs here.”