US House Speaker Mike Johnson says Kamala Harris rejected Josh Shapiro for VP because he is Jewish

The Harris campaign announced that she had selected Progressive Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson joined in the discussion of whether presumptive Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris snubbed Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate because of his Jewish heritage.

On Tuesday, the Harris campaign announced that she had selected Progressive Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.

Mike Johnson told The Hill that he believed Shapiro’s Jewishness was a “major factor” and that he “would have been a stronger choice” for Harris.

Johnson said, “I think that clearly was a major factor, is that she was reluctant to put a vice presidential nominee on the ticket with Jewish heritage because they’re having a split in the Democratic Party.”

He added, “They have a pro-Palestinian, in some cases pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party.”

“Sadly for Josh Shapiro, because of his heritage, I think that is the reason he was overlooked,” Johnson added.

Despite his stated belief that Shapiro’s Jewish heritage was a factor in his not being chosen as Harris’s running mate, Johnson stopped short of calling Harris or her campaign antisemitic.

When asked whether he would characterize the decision as antisemitic, Johnson said, “I’m not gonna call it that because I don’t — I just know that that was a major factor.”

“I think they made a political decision that is sad, and I think they’ll regret it,” he concluded.

However, Republican nominee Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, said before the pick was announced that if Shapiro weren’t chosen, it would be due to antisemitism.

Vance said, “It will be due to the antisemitism within their own caucus and party.”

Vance added, “Even if it is Josh Shapiro, he has had to distance himself from parts of his biography because the far left doesn’t like the fact that he is a Jewish-American. We have to be honest about this fact and call it out.”

The campaign of Kamala Harris, whose husband Doug Emhoff is Jewish, called Vance’s claim “absurd” and added it was “absolutely ridiculous and offensive.”

However, Van Jones of CNN posited that some anti-Jewish elements within the Democratic party might have scared Harris off from picking Shapiro because he is Jewish.

Jones said that Shapiro would have been the kind of pick that would “scare” the Trump campaign but added, “You also have antisemitism, which has gotten marbled into this party.”

He added, “You can be for the Palestinians without being an anti-Jewish bigot, but there are some anti-Jewish bigots out there. There is some disquiet now, and there must be about how much of what just happened is caving into these darker parts of the party. So that’s going to have to get worked out,” said Jones.

2024 ElectionsAmerican antisemitismJosh ShapiroKamala Harris