Kamala Harris had 'nagging concern' about Josh Shapiro as possible VP, memoir details

Excerpts from Kamala Harris’ book “107 Days” have gotten pushback from other prominent Democrats, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was once in consideration to be her running mate during her presidential campaign.

In the memoir, Harris inferred Shapiro seemed overly confident. She portrayed Shapiro as too eager for the job, according to USA Today.

Harris wrote that before Shapiro even interviewed, he asked her residence manager at the vice president’s house how many bedrooms there were and if the Smithsonian would work with him to loan Pennsylvania art in the residence, the Washington Post reported.

Harris recalled that, during the interview, Shapiro “mused that he would want to be in the room for every decision,” according to the Post. She said she told him that was not realistic because “a vice president is not a co-president.”

She worried Shapiro would be unable to be content with the vice president’s role.

Harris “had a nagging concern that he would be unable to settle for a role as number two and that it would wear on our partnership.”

Eight people, including Shapiro, were being vetted by Harris’ team to be her potential vice president, according to a review of the book’s excerpts by the Washington Post.

Some Democrats believed that, had Harris selected Shapiro, she would have been able to swing more votes her way in the 2024 presidential election.

Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

Republican Donald Trump won Pennsylvania and the election.

Before Harris announced her vice presidential candidate, Shapiro said publicly he did not want the job — which, some speculated, was because he knew he would not get it.

Shapiro, speaking with Stephen A. Smith on a podcast, responded that he had not read the book. However, he said Harris will “have to answer” for why she did not speak out publicly about former President Joe Biden’s ability to serve during his term.

“I can tell you that I wasn’t in the room, but when I was confronted with engaging with the former president, in looking at it simply from the perspective of, how is he doing in Pennsylvania? Could he win Pennsylvania? Because, I think, Stephen, you understand, if you can’t win Pennsylvania, it’s pretty darn hard to win the national election,” Shapiro told Smith, while addressing Biden’s health and competency. “And I was very vocal with him, privately, and extremely vocal with his staff about my concerns about his fitness to be able to run for another term. I was direct with them. I told them my concerns.”

Shapiro spokesman Manuel Bonder told the Washington Post it was “simply ridiculous to suggest that Governor Shapiro was focused on anything other than defeating Donald Trump and protecting Pennsylvania from the chaos we are living through now.

“The governor campaigned tirelessly for the Harris-Walz ticket — and as he has made clear, the conclusion of this process was a deeply personal decision for both him and the vice president,” Bonder said.

The book details her account of her presidential campaign, interactions with Biden and her considerations for a vice president.