Josh Shapiro Slams Kamala Harris for Staying Silent on Biden’s Health Before 2024 Collapse
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is breaking ranks with former Vice President Kamala Harris, telling SiriusXM’s Stephen A. Smith that Harris “is going to have to answer” for her silence on Joe Biden’s mental and physical decline before the 2024 election disaster that ultimately handed the White House back to Donald Trump.
In the Thursday interview, Shapiro — a rising Democrat with 2028 presidential buzz — suggested that Harris, who was in the room with Biden daily, failed the public by never expressing concern over his ability to do the job.
“She’s going to have to answer how she was in the room and yet never said anything publicly,” Shapiro told Smith.
While Harris remained quiet, Shapiro claims he was upfront with Biden’s team behind closed doors. “I was direct with them,” the Pennsylvania governor said. “I told them my concerns.”
Shapiro’s comments come just days before the release of Harris’s memoir 107 Days, which chronicles the fallout from Biden’s infamous 2024 debate collapse against Trump and her short-lived run against the 45th president.
Harris Memoir Adds Fuel
In excerpts from 107 Days, Harris portrays herself as boxed in and powerless to act, fearing that urging Biden to step aside would be seen as “poisonous disloyalty.”
“In retrospect, I think it was recklessness,” Harris writes, acknowledging that her silence came at a high cost. “The stakes were simply too high.” (RELATED: Biden Aides Rip Kamala Harris Book: ‘She Was Simply Not Good at the Job’)
The book’s title references the 107-day sprint between Biden’s withdrawal from the race and Election Day. During that time, Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate and attempted to rescue a fractured Democratic ticket. She failed.
Shapiro Hits Back at Memoir Claims
Harris’s memoir doesn’t just reflect on Biden’s collapse — it also takes aim at Josh Shapiro, alleging that during the vetting process for vice president, he showed more interest in the perks of the job than the responsibilities.
According to Harris, Shapiro asked how many bedrooms were in the VP residence and whether Pennsylvania art could be borrowed from the Smithsonian. She wrote that she feared he would demand to “be in the room for every decision.”
Shapiro’s camp fired back swiftly. His spokesperson, Manuel Bonder, dismissed the claims as “simply ridiculous,” noting that the governor was “focused on defeating Donald Trump” and campaigned aggressively for the ticket.
But behind the scenes, Shapiro is reportedly fuming at being sidelined. Harris ultimately chose Walz, passing over Shapiro and her supposed “first choice,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — a pick she considered “too big of a risk” due to his sexual orientation.
“We were already asking a lot of America,” Harris writes. “To accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man… It was too big of a risk.”
Fallout and 2028 Ambitions
Shapiro’s sharp critique of Harris could be an early preview of Democratic infighting ahead of 2028. With Trump back in the Oval Office and Harris now politically sidelined, figures like Shapiro, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and others are jockeying for position.
“If you can’t win Pennsylvania,” Shapiro warned, “it’s pretty darn hard to win the national election.”
That message — delivered in blunt terms — underscores a broader truth: in the wake of Biden’s humiliating exit and Harris’s failed campaign, Democrats are scrambling to find someone who can rebuild the party’s credibility.
And Shapiro just made it clear: if Harris wants to lead again, she’ll have to explain why she kept quiet while the Biden ship sank.