Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Donald Trump is “obsessed” with spewing hatred after the Republican nominee for president criticized Shapiro as “the highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Shapiro spoke Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention and said Trump “wants to take away our rights and our freedoms.”
Trump’s missive on social media also said Shapiro had “refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had” and that “Shapiro has done nothing for Israel.”
Asked about Trump’s statement by a reporter Thursday morning, Shapiro said “it’s clear over the last few years, Donald Trump is obsessed with me and obsessed with continuing to spew hate and division in our politics. He’s someone who has routinely peddled antisemitic tropes like this.”
Shapiro has years of experience making Trump the focus of his rhetorical attacks, first as state attorney general and now as governor.
The White House issued a statement, saying “it is antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way, or perpetuating the centuries-old smear of ‘dual loyalty.’”