Josh Shapiro fired back at Donald Trump after the former president called the Pennsylvania governor a "highly overrated Jewish Governor" in a Truth Social post early Thursday.
Shapiro said, "I think 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's routinely peddled antisemitic tropes like this."
In his post, Trump referenced Shapiro's Wednesday speech at the Democratic National Convention:
"The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President, yet she hates Israel and will do nothing but make its journey through the complexities of survival as difficult as possible, hoping in the end that it will fail. Judge only by her actions! Yet Shapiro, for strictly political reasons, refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had. I have done more for Israel than any President, and frankly, I have done more for Israel than any person, and it's not even close. Shapiro has done nothing for Israel, and never will. Comrade Kamala Harris, the Radical Left Marxist who stole the nomination from Crooked Joe, will do even less. Israel is in BIG trouble!"
Shapiro told reporters Thursday, "I'm talking about real freedom, bringing people together, accepting folks no matter what they look like, where they come from, who they love, who they pray to and say this is a place for you.
"That's diametrically opposed to everything Donald Trump believes and it's clear that he's going to continue to be the hateful, divisive person that he's always been in this campaign."
The White House issued a statement in response to Trump Thursday, 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.'"
A spokesman for the Trump campaign said Trump's critics "simply don't know what they're talking about."
"Kamala Harris talks out of both sides of her mouth to appease Hamas sympathizers while Democrats have emboldened antisemitic protests on college campuses," the spokesman said, reiterating Trump's support for Israel and touting his accomplishments in the Middle East.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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