Dem Governor Josh Shapiro Snaps When He Finds Out What Kamala Harris Said About Him: ‘Complete and Utter Bulls***’

Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania lost his normally even-keeled demeanor when a reporter read to him what former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote about him in her book about the 2024 presidential race.

Political pundits have argued that Harris would have increased her chances of beating Donald Trump if she had selected Shapiro as her running mate, given his more moderate stances on some issues, and because he is a popular governor in a swing state that she needed to carry.

The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta recounted that he had received an advance copy of Harris’ “107 Days” before he interviewed the governor earlier this fall.

“I asked Shapiro if Harris had given him any heads-up about her book. She had not, he said. Then I told him that Harris had taken some shots at him,” Alberta wrote, causing the politician to furrow his brow and cross his arms.

“The man I observed over the next several minutes was unrecognizable. Gone was his equilibrium. He moved between outrage and exasperation as I relayed the excerpts. Harris had accused him, in essence, of measuring the drapes, even inquiring about featuring Pennsylvania artists in the vice-presidential residence; of insisting ‘that he would want to be in the room for every decision’ Harris might make,” Alberta continued.

Her book accused Shapiro — who is considered a likely 2028 presidential contender — of hijacking the meeting when the two sat down to discuss the possibility of him joining her on the Democratic ticket, “to the point where she reminded him that he would not be co-president.”

“She wrote that in her book?” Shapiro asked Alberta in response to the claim concerning the residence’s art. “That’s complete and utter bulls***.”

“I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies,” he added.

In an apparently unguarded moment, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov Josh Shapiro reacts upon first hearing what Kamala Harris wrote about him in her book. From @TheAtlantic: https://t.co/g9iz2jfOuW pic.twitter.com/cw5sE1fOjl

— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 3, 2025

Alberta reported that he spoke with people from both the Shapiro and Harris camps who found the description of the meeting that the former vice president recorded in her book, “mostly consistent” with their recollections.

“Shapiro arrived [to the Harris meeting] in an edgy mood, chafing at efforts among fellow Democrats to sabotage his tryout. (Shapiro, who is Jewish, was especially irked by anti-Semitic innuendo from the left.) The two skipped past any semblance of small talk and Shapiro proceeded to interview Harris, rather than the other way around,” according to Alberta.

“I did ask a bunch of questions,” Shapiro conceded to the reporter.

“Wouldn’t you ask questions if someone was talking to you about forming a partnership and working together?” the governor wondered.

Alberta asked whether Shapiro felt betrayed by Harris for writing what she did.

“I mean, she’s trying to sell books and cover her ass,” Shapiro snapped.

“The governor stared past me now, shaking his head,” Alberta recalled. “As I began to ask a different question, he held up a hand. He looked disgusted. With me? With Harris? No, I began to realize: He was disgusted with himself.”

“I shouldn’t say ‘cover her ass.’ I think that’s not appropriate,” Shapiro said. His tone was suddenly collected. “She’s trying to sell books. Period.”

Regarding Trump, Shapiro said he does not like him, but respects his ability to communicate with middle America.

“Donald Trump has been a once-in-a-generation political figure who’s managed to connect on a deeper cultural level,” the governor said.

Finally, concerning the 2024 election overall, Shapiro told the reporter, “We can’t ignore the fact that elections are binary choices. And so you’re asking people, at least in the last case, to choose between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.”

“We can have this kind of theoretical conversation about Trump, but, like, it was always Trump versus somebody.”

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