The Democrats are not antisemites. They're antizionists. Don't believe me? Just ask them.
I would like to believe that Democrats don't hate Jews as a people or an ethnic group. But it's hard to believe that when there are Democrats and left-wing commentators who think that Kamala Harris cannot choose a Jewish running mate because they're likely to be tarnished by their support for the state of Israel.
CNN's John King spoke of these "risks" of Harris choosing a Jewish running mate.
Host Anderson Cooper suggested that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is “being discussed as one of Harris’ potential running mates.” He asked King what he believed the “pros and cons for putting him on the ticket” would be.
“Well, he’s certainly under consideration, I know that from key Harris allies. He’s a first-term governor. He’s Jewish. There could be some risks in putting him on the ticket, but certainly some of our voters here in Pennsylvania said, ‘Hey, we like Governor Shapiro, give him a look,'” King said.
What "risks" would there be in putting a Jewish American on the Democratic ticket? The political risk that the same groups who pressured Biden to dump his support for Israel would be enraged at Harris picking a Jew for the second spot.
The antisemites in the Democratic Party on the far left and other Palestinian sympathizers will block any effort to put Shapiro or any other prominent Jew, including Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, on the ticket.
Pritzker isn't interested in running for vice president. He wants the top job, and seeing Harris fail in 2024 would be a fantasy come true. If there's going to be a litmus test for vice presidents, it's going to be how the individual candidate responded to the campus protests in their state. Some potential picks were smart enough to keep their mouths shut.
Most other candidates floated for the VP spot have also taken a far less provocative approach to student protests than Shapiro (one partial exception is Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who endorsed some GOP smears of campus protesters in an interview, though he hasn’t shown Shapiro’s same level of fixation). North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper actually drew criticism for making no public statement about an encampment at the University of North Carolina. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said that encampments at the University of Wisconsin were “in good faith” even as he acknowledged they would eventually need to end. Neither Kentucky’s Andy Beshear nor Minnesota’s Tim Walz made any public statements about similar demonstrations in their states.
So Shapiro is probably out, although Harris might choose him for the good, old-fashioned reason that the Democrats desperately need Pennsylvania to win the election. Those 19 electoral votes are critical to her success. She may just swallow hard, ignore the antisemites in her party, and choose him.
Related: Trump Readies Mar-a-Lago for Netanyahu Visit While Harris and Many Democrats Boycott the Speech
Not choosing a candidate based on race, ethnicity, or gender would be a change for the Democrats.
That said, the two front runners for the job are Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Both are moderates, and many analysts believe Harris needs to soften her hard-left image by choosing someone who at least appears sane to swing state voters.
Whoever she chooses, the whitewash of their record will have them come out looking like a cross between John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member