Shapiro Dishes on 'Offensive' Harris Vetting Process

Josh Shapiro's new memoir pulls back the curtain on Kamala Harris' running-mate search—and depicts a vetting process he says veered into uncomfortable territory over Israel and his Jewish identity. In Where We Keep the Light, obtained by the New York Times, the Pennsylvania governor and one-time top contender for the 2024 Democratic ticket writes that Harris' team pressed him so hard on his ties to Israel that he was directly asked whether he had ever been an agent of the Israeli government, and whether he had communicated with an undercover Israeli agent. While he writes that former White House counsel Dana Remus was "just doing her job," he says the exchange was offensive and "said a lot about some of the people around the VP."

Shapiro says the scrutiny came as Democrats were riven over the Gaza war and as his own outspoken criticism of antisemitism on campuses drew skepticism. Some on the left had labeled him "Genocide Josh," per CNN. Harris "expressed how bad she felt that I had been getting hammered with the antisemitic attacks," Shapiro writes. But he also recounts Harris asking if he would apologize for his comments about protests at the University of Pennsylvania; he refused, writing that he supports free speech but believed some campus activity crossed a line. He also wonders in the book whether he was uniquely grilled on Israel as "the only Jewish guy in the running" or whether other non-federal-office contenders faced similar questioning.

The memoir, due out Jan. 27, casts Shapiro as uneasy with the entire selection process. He says he ultimately decided to pull himself out after meeting Harris, concluding that they clashed on issues including energy, taxes, law enforcement, and COVID policy—and on what the No. 2 job should be. Harris, in her own book, has written that she doubted Shapiro would be content as vice president and suggested he got ahead of himself, considering how he would decorate his office. Shapiro previously disputed that as "blatant lies." In his memoir, he frames the divide more as a fundamental mismatch over how a partnership with Harris would work, noting that she was "crystal clear" she did not want the kind of forceful internal advocate he envisioned being.