Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says Donald Trump is 'obsessed' with him after his 'antisemitic' Truth Social rant

CHICAGO — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday said former President Donald Trump was “obsessed” with him and accused him of promoting “antisemitic tropes,” following the former president’s late-night social media attack on Shapiro.

After Shapiro’s speech Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, Trump called him a “highly overrated Jewish Gov.” in a post on his Truth Social network. Trump claimed the Democrat “has done nothing for Israel” and called his speech “really bad and poorly delivered.” The former president also claimed without merit that Vice President Kamala Harris “hates Israel” and that he’s done more for Israel “than any person.”

“It’s clear over the last few days Donald Trump is obsessed with me and obsessed with continuing to spew hate and division in our politics,” Shapiro told reporters Thursday in Chicago. “He’s someone who has routinely pedaled antisemitic tropes like this.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro responds to Donald Trump's anti-semitic post on truth social moments ago. pic.twitter.com/oL7klHVMbk

— Sean Kitchen (@pennslinger) August 22, 2024

Shapiro said the way Trump judges Jewish elected officials by their stances on Israel — and positions himself as the arbiter of who is a good Jewish leader — promotes a “notion of a dual loyalty” that is “at its heart antisemitic.”

“Jewish elected officials care about a whole lot of things like … how we give our kids a great quality education, how we make sure our streets are safe, how we create opportunity,” Shapiro said. “And yeah, we care about Israel, too. But last I checked the job of the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did not involve foreign policy with Israel.”

Shapiro has become one of Trump’s favorite targets in recent weeks, while he was a frontrunner for to become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate and since he was passed over in favor of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Trump and his allies have focused on Shapiro’s Jewish faith.

Shapiro said earlier this week that he’s “not going to be lectured” by Trump on antisemitism after the former president and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, have repeatedly suggested Shapiro wasn’t selected as Harris’ running mate because he’s Jewish. (Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is also Jewish.)

“Donald Trump is completely full of it, and he’s trying to use me, and he’s trying to use other Jews to divide Americans further,” Shapiro told reporters Monday, as the DNC began. “We have seen this with Donald Trump over and over and over again. He is the least credible person when it comes to standing up against hatred and bigotry.”

Prior to his prime-time speech on Wednesday, Shapiro said in a live interview with Politico that Trump was using him “to try and divide people.”

“The No. 1 guy who pushes these types of tropes into our politics is Donald Trump,” Shapiro said. “That guy has absolutely no credibility to speak on these issues.”

The White House also responded Thursday to Trump’s latest remarks about Shapiro. A spokesperson for President Joe Biden called the comments “antisemitic, dangerous and hurtful.”

Rabbi Beth Janus, co-president of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia, said Trump’s social media post was a “calculated way for Trump to rile up antisemites,” and said that his fixation on Shapiro’s faith is dangerous for the Jewish community.

“It’s a dog whistle, it’s the only thing that it can be,” Janus said. “Why is he pointing out that he’s Jewish? Why is that relevant to his role as governor of our commonwealth?”

Shapiro’s stance on Israel and how he’s responded to attacks on his Jewish faith

Shapiro said that attacks on his faith and his support for Israel while he was under consideration to become Harris’ running mate didn’t bother him, but noted that the rhetoric impacted others.

“I recognize that I was attacked for my faith,” Shapiro said about the public scrutiny he faced. “I’m very proud of my faith. My faith calls me to serve. Those attacks didn’t hurt my feelings … What upset me about this was the way it made other people feel.”

Shapiro told Politico he heard from young Jews who said they were worried about their faith after seeing how he was targeted, which upset him. He also reaffirmed that Harris’ decision had nothing to do with his Jewish faith.

The governor also reiterated his position on the Israel-Hamas war, condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and saying that he grieves the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza.

“I don’t think those two concepts are mutually exclusive for all people who are involved in this,” Shapiro added. “I want the hostages home, and I want to see an end to the violence.”

Shapiro also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “terrible leader” and “has been leading Israel down a dangerous and destructive path long before Oct. 7.”

And Shapiro also had some jabs for Trump: Trump “has been repeatedly rejected by the voters of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro told reporters Thursday.

“He himself lost in 2020,” he said. “All of his handpicked candidates have lost, and I think he’s headed to another loss to Kamala Harris.”

On Wednesday night, Shapiro used his brief but energizing speech at the DNC to attack Trump and Republicans for trying to limit the freedoms of Americans across the country.

PA Gov. Josh Shapiro slams former Pres. Trump, saying he "wants to take away our rights and our freedoms."

"It's not freedom to tell our children what books they're allowed to read. And it's not freedom to tell women what they can do with their bodies." https://t.co/aW23y108JM pic.twitter.com/GurdhMq8FQ

— ABC News (@ABC) August 22, 2024

“While [Trump] cloaks himself in the blanket of freedom, what he’s offering isn’t freedom at all,” Shapiro said. “Because it’s not freedom to tell our children what books they’re allowed to read. It’s not freedom to tell women what they can do with their bodies. And it sure as hell isn’t freedom to say you can go vote, but he gets to pick the winner.”