Josh Shapiro calls Kamala Harris book claims about him 'utter bull----' in fiery interview response
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro unleashed on former Vice President Kamala Harris during an interview published Wednesday, claiming that what the Democratic nominee for president wrote about him in her book was "utter b-------."
During an interview with The Atlantic's Tim Alberta, Shapiro denied what Harris alleged in her book, "107 Days," which included discussions of Shapiro and others she vetted to be her running mate. Harris said Shapiro had asked her staff lots of questions, including "how he might arrange to get Pennsylvania artists’ work on loan from the Smithsonian." She also accused him of wanting to be involved in every decision and said she reminded him, "a vice president is not a co-president."
"She wrote that in her book? That’s complete and utter bull----," Shapiro said in response to the description of him in her book. "I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies."
"I did ask a bunch of questions," Shapiro told Alberta. "Wouldn’t you ask questions if someone was talking to you about forming a partnership and working together?"
Alberta said he found that both Shapiro's staff and Harris' described the meeting similarly. He asked Shapiro if he felt betrayed by Harris.
"I mean, she’s trying to sell books and cover her a--," he said, before backtracking. "I shouldn’t say ‘cover her a--.’ I think that’s not appropriate."
"She’s trying to sell books. Period," he concluded.
Harris also had reservations about former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, which she detailed in the book.
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Buttigieg, who is gay, "would have been an ideal partner – if I were a straight white man," Harris wrote in the book. "But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man. Part of me wanted to say, Screw it, let’s just do it. But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk."
The former vice president ultimately tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who wound up attracting negative headlines for the campaign over past misleading statements about his military record.
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Harris' office did not immediately return a request for comment.
During a September interview, Shapiro had argued that the former vice president needed to answer for why she didn't raise any concerns about former President Joe Biden's health while in office.
Shapiro said he was "extremely vocal" about Biden’s fitness to run again and argued that Biden’s staff failed to fully brief him on his dwindling chances of victory.
"I can tell you that I tried to speak to them candidly about it and to do so in a constructive manner. I believe in talking directly to the individuals, not running around and talking to the media," Shapiro said. "I don't mean that disrespectfully, but I think, in that moment, you've got to be direct, and I was."
Fox News' Marc Tomasco contributed to this report.
