PITTSBURGH (TNS) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro addressed allegations of antisemitism within the Democratic base and hinted that he and presidential nominee Kamala Harris mutually decided that he would not serve as her running mate as he visited a United Mine Workers of America facility in Greene County Thursday for a ceremonial bill signing.
After Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Shapiro released a statement indicating that both he and Harris had made “deeply personal” decisions. In response to media questions Thursday, Shapiro repeated that statement — that she made a decision and so did he. Then he elaborated.
“I love being governor of Pennsylvania — as I said here in the remarks today, I believe every Pennsylvanian should have the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed,” he said. “In the end, it was important to me to be able to chart my own course.”
He declined to comment on the nature of his conversations with Harris, but denied a Republican-fueled theory that she did not want to risk losing antisemitic voters.
“Any spin that those outsiders want to put on it for their own benefit is absolutely false,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro was accompanied by Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Nancy Walker as he spoke to a few dozen local residents and the media Thursday afternoon at UMWA Career Centers, Inc., an adult vocational training facility just outside of Waynesburg.
Shapiro signed a bill into law that provides $30 million in statewide funding for vocational-technical schools and apprenticeship programs. He recounted a conversation that he had with a group of retired mine workers that he said taught him “the importance of making sure that we stand up and give everybody the opportunity to meet their full potential.”
“For too long, I think we’ve kind of thumbed our noses at some of those paths,” he said. “Whether you choose to go to the military, you choose to go to college, you choose to go to a career training center, you choose to go to a union apprenticeship program — all of those paths deserve our respect.”
The $30 million in funding is part of the 2024-25 state budget and will be distributed in part through the Department of Education and in part through the Department of Labor and Industry, Shapiro told the Post-Gazette.
“We’re making those investments again so that young people in the eighth, ninth, 10th grade can be excited about being a welder, can be excited about going into the trades,” he said. “There’s not only a great future for them, there’s a great future for us because we need people to do that work.”
Shapiro, who is the only governor in the country with a divided legislature, emphasized that the funding would not have been possible without bipartisan support.
“You all know how hyperpolarized these times are in America right now — to get anything done between Democrats and Republicans is tough,” he said. “If you focus on bringing people together, you create opportunity, you solve problems, and you move Pennsylvania forward.”
United Mine Workers of America International District 2 Vice President Chuck Knisell thanked Shapiro for his support and called the funding “critical” for the area’s 560 unionized coal miners.
“These folks need an opportunity… for their children to get trained, to do vocation, to be involved in an apprenticeship program,” he said. “Not every family can afford to send their children to college.”
