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CNN anchor says Jewish VP could be ‘risky’ for Democrats

Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly considering tapping Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor as her running mate if she wins the Democratic nomination – a move a senior CNN analyst warned could be risky.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior CNN anchor and political analyst is under fire Monday, after he warned that the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket could face “risks” if they included a Jewish running mate.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden announced in a written statement that he has decided to scrap his planned 2024 reelection bid, and instead endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to head the Democratic ticket against former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

The announcement and Biden’s endorsement pushed Harris into an early lead in betting markets, with the RealClearPolitics average surging overnight for Harris from an 18.2% average share of bets to 30.5%.

While the party’s standard bearer will not be selected until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month, Biden’s endorsement and Harris’ early lead has fueled speculation regarding her possible choice of running mate.

On CNN Sunday evening, Anderson Cooper discussed Harris’ candidates for vice president with CNN anchor and senior analyst John King.

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One possible name mentioned as a running mate was Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who defeated Republican Doug Mastriano by a wide margin in what was thought to have been a competitive race in a battleground state.

King said that Harris’ team is working to narrow down the list of potential running mates to four or five candidates within the next few days.

A concern King raised regarding Shapiro specifically was that the governor’s Jewish background could entail “risks” were he included on the 2024 ticket.

“He’s Jewish. There could be some risks in putting him on the ticket,” King said.

The remark drew criticism from social media users, some of whom accused King of antisemitism, while others lamented what they called the growing atmosphere of antisemitism in the progressive left.

“CNN has gone FULL ON systemic antisemitic,” tweeted CUNY law professor and antisemitism expert Jeffrey Lax.

“It says a lot about the state of American politics, and perhaps especially in progressive circles, that one of the ‘cons’ of #KamalaHarris selecting Gov. Josh Shapiro as her VP, is that he is Jewish and the pushback this might receive,” human rights attorney and The International Legal Forum CEO Arsen Ostrovsky wrote on Twitter/X.