Shapiro and Whitmer Campaign Together for Harris in Pennsylvania
President Joe Biden greets Gov. Tim Walz, elected officials and base leadership, Monday, April 3, 2023, at Minneapolis-Saint Paul Joint Air Reserve Station in Minnesota (Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith).
Both governors are rumored to potentially be selected as Harris’ running mate in the November election.
Article by Ryan Hartnett, Senior White House Producer
AMBLER, Pa. - On Monday afternoon, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined forces to speak at a “Harris for President” event at Wissahickon High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
This event comes as both the Harris and Trump campaigns ramp up their efforts with 99 days until the November election.
Both Shapiro and Whitmer drew contrasts between the new presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The rally drew a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters on Monday with many of those in attendance being excited about the Democratic ticket, including Pennsylvania Congresswoman Madeleine Dean.
“I can tell you this, you felt the enthusiasm and the energy in this room,” said Representative Dean in an interview with AKSM Media, “...and what I predict is that energy is only going to increase.”
And that energy has increased amongst the democratic party including some of the youngest members of the Democratic party.
“I think that there’s a lot of energy from people my age,” 22 year old Lily Ball told AKSM Media regarding the positive energy from her friends and fellow younger voters, “I think I got like 100 texts in the first hour from my friends when it was announced that Kamala was going to be taking over as the nominee.”
The two Democratic governors took the stage to address how Harris is the clear choice for President. Whitmer spoke first and praised the Vice President for her “toughness”
“She wasn’t afraid to take on the powerful,” said Whitmer, “She learned to fight for the underdog. She stood up every day as the United States senator, fighting for the middle class, fighting every day for our working families.”
Whitmer also blasted Donald Trump about how he is a danger to democracy and is only in this race for himself.
“The contrast in this election couldn’t be more clear,” said Whitmer, “Trump bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade and sexually assaulting women… he cut taxes for himself and his buddies and he tried overturning an election.”
Shapiro echoed similar sentiments to the crowd when he took to the podium as he pointed out how weird Trump and Vance are as both people and candidates.
“You ever see this guy when he’s [Trump] on the stage, he kind of meanders over to the flag and hugs the flag and I love the flag,” said Shapiro, “But, that’s a weird thing that he does… and while he’s hugging the flag he is ripping away our freedoms.”
Shapiro and Whitmer are two of the favorites that are being speculated to be selected as Harris’ running mate. Although there’s a lot of excitement regarding who Harris will select as her Vice Presidential running mate, voters say that whoever Harris picks as her running mate won’t change their vote this November.
“I don’t think anything barring completely crazy circumstances could change who I’m voting for,” said Ball about how Harris’ selection won’t impact her vote, “I like both Shapiro and Whitmer. I think they’re both attractive to different groups of people, but I don’t think either of them would be wrong.”
Harris is expected to select her running mate by August 7th in order to meet a ballot deadline in the state of Ohio.