President, Governor Josh Shapiro reaffirmed his full support for the Vice President’s campaign and talked about the stark contrast with Donald Trump.
See below for key excerpts from the Governor’s remarks today and full press conference here:
ON PRESIDENT BIDEN’S RECORD OF LEADERSHIP AND HIS ENDORSEMENT OF KAMALA HARRIS
«Well, let me begin by saying a word about President Biden. I had the privilege to be able to speak to him just a few moments after he issued his statement yesterday. President Biden is an extraordinary public servant. He has served this country, the state of Delaware, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as our third senator for a long time, and of course, this nation so honorably, and the work that he has done is going to lead to positive change for generations to come. We’re talking about one of those particular decisions here that the EPA is announcing today. I couldn’t be more grateful for President Biden’s service. President Biden has often remarked that one of the most important decisions he had to make was selecting a Vice President. And in that he selected Vice President Harris, who has been by his side, as this nation has built ourselves back and made extraordinary progress. President Biden yesterday endorsed Vice President Harris, as did I, as did many across this country. Not only because of how honorably she has served in the past, but how absolutely ready she is to be president and to be the standard bearer for our party. She will now have to make an important decision as then candidate Biden had to make and that is, who to run with – who should be her running mate.
«That’s a deeply personal decision and a decision that should be made really free from any political pressure. It’s a decision she needs to make who she wants to govern with, who she wants to campaign with, and who can be there to serve alongside her when she serves as, God willing, the 47th President of the United States, she will make that decision when she is ready. I have all the confidence in the world that she will make that decision along with many others – in the best interests of the American people.»
ON HOLDING DONALD TRUMP ACCOUNTABLE AND WINNING IN NOVEMBER
«I spoke to the Vice President yesterday, shortly after I spoke with the President. You know what we focused on? Defeating Donald Trump. Our conversation was all about defeating Donald Trump and how we protect our freedoms here in the Commonwealth. We talked about how we can’t go back to a time, as Donald Trump did, where he ripped away our freedoms from the freedom to be able to try and join a union. Remember, this is the same guy who went to the Supreme Court to try and turn this Commonwealth and this country into a right to workplace. We will never be a right to work state as long as I’m governor and we will never be a right to work nation as long as Kamala Harris is our President. This is a guy who injected chaos in our lives in the past and wants to do it again. He wants to rip away health care from 1.2 million Pennsylvanians. This is a guy who has looked at the kind of workers who work here with great disdain. He spent a career screwing over the kind of workers that work here at CBS. The kind of workers that work with Darren Kelly and our unions here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
«And so the conversations I’ve had with the Vice President are all about one thing and one thing only, how do we defeat Donald Trump? How do we protect our freedom? And how do we make Pennsylvania – which was the epicenter of the creation of our democracy, the epicenter of our politics today. How do we make sure that Pennsylvania elects Kamala Harris to be our next president?»
ON DOING EVERYTHING HE CAN TO DEFEAT DONALD TRUMP
«Listen, all I’m focused on is defeating Donald Trump. I served as Attorney General when he was President. I had to take that guy to court over and over and over again — by the way, one every single time – to defend our right to vote, to defend women’s reproductive rights, to defend the rights of workers to be able to form and join a union. We do not want to go back to that. We don’t want to go back to a time where Donald Trump literally sued the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to disenfranchise our voters here. By the way, he and his allies sued us 43 times. He went 0 – 43. I went 43 – 0.
«We had a free and fair, safe and secure election that Joe Biden won in 2020. What I am focused on is making sure we don’t go back to Donald Trump’s chaos, and that we elect Kamala Harris, next President of the United States. I will tell you that I have known the Vice President for nearly 20 years, nearly 20 years. We have both been prosecutors. We have both stood up for the rule of law. And we have always both been for the people. That is diametrically opposed to everything Donald Trump has stood for. A man who has routinely screwed over the people, a man who has no respect for the rule of law. And I’ll tell you what, I like our chances running a prosecutor against the guy who’s a convicted felon 43 times over so far.»
HIS MESSAGE TO PENNSYLVANIANS WHO ARE CONCERNED RIGHT NOW
«I stood by President Biden years ago, when he selected Kamala Harris to be his vice president, because he knew she had what it took to be able to be president then. And when he endorsed her just yesterday – he knows she has what it takes to be president tomorrow. She has been preparing for this and she is ready to go. And I’m proud to stand with her as our scores of democratic elected officials, as well as Democrats and Republicans and independents I’ve spoken to in the community, who are excited about this. Who understands the very serious threat that Donald Trump poses to our fundamental freedoms, who understands the very serious risk our democracy faces if Donald Trump is given the keys to the White House again, those folks I’ve talked to, they want to win. And they believe Kamala Harris is our best chance to win. And I believe that too, which is why I endorsed her immediately yesterday after the President did.
«The president knows better than anyone else that Kamala Harris is up to this job. And I think the good people of Pennsylvania and the good folks all across this country are gonna get to see that as we go forward in this campaign over the next 100 plus days.»
