(TNS) — According to a new book, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Jewish faith was not a reason for former Vice President Kamala Harris spurning him as her running mate last year, contradicting accusations made by President Donald Trump.

The Forward, a Jewish publication, obtained excerpts of “How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” which is being released Tuesday.

PennLive reached out to the governor’s office, but they declined to comment.

Shapiro was rejected as the vice president nominee because he and Harris had too much in common — they were both former attorneys general with presidential aspirations — and the two lacked the chemistry needed to wage a presidential campaign, the authors concluded.

That flies in the face of allegations made by Trump last August at a rally in Wilkes-Barre.

“They turned him down because he’s Jewish,” said Trump, providing no evidence. That narrative, though, soon became a popular Republican talking pointing as was Shapiro’s strong support for Israel and its impact on Harris’ decision.

Shapiro, however, denied that antisemitism played any role in Harris’ decision to ultimately pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over him and one other, pointing out that Harris’ husband is Jewish.

“I can tell you that antisemitism had no impact on the dialogue between the vice president and me, period,” Shapiro said, as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer last year.

As for Israel and Gaza, the Forward reported that the book claims some in Harris’ camp considered Shapiro’s remarks on pro-Palestinian protests “incendiary,” but they were still not a factor in Harris’ decision.

Shapiro had angered progressives during campus protests over Gaza by supporting universities sending in police to clear building occupations and encampments on campuses, most notably at the University of Pennsylvania.

However, it was Shapiro’s comments about antisemitism in the pro-Palestinian protests on CNN in April 2024 that caused some concerns in Harris’ circle, wrote the Forward.

“We have to query whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia, making comments about people who are African-American in our communities,” Shapiro said at the time.

Progressives bristled at the remarks and said Shapiro was comparing protesters to the KKK, according to the Forward.

Still, the book’s authors wrote that “many Democrats thought Shapiro was the obvious choice,” pointing to the governor’s popularity in a battleground state, speaking skills and moderate politics.

Also, the authors claim that the Trump campaign feared Shapiro the most out of all the other vice-presidential hopefuls.

After the vice-presidential list was narrowed to Shapiro, Walz and Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, Shapiro had a private meeting with Harris that tanked his chances, the book’s authors claim.

“He came across as overly ambitious, pushing Harris to define what his role would be,” the book says. “He also conceded it would not be natural for him to serve as someone’s number two, leaving Harris with a bad impression.”

The book’s authors wrote that internal polls showed that it was not a given that Shapiro on the ticket would deliver Pennsylvania to Harris.

Though he did not get the nod, Shapiro appeared at a Harris rally in Philadelphia to introduce Walz as her running mate and gave an impassioned speech to voters.

“I am going to continue to pour my heart and soul into serving you every single day as your governor and I’m going to work my tail off to make sure we make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next leaders of the United States of America,” said Shapiro.

Trump won Pennsylvania last year by 120,266 votes, or 1.7%, after losing the state to Joe Biden in 2020.