Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a leading Democrat and one of the top contenders to serve as former Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024, offers his most detailed account yet of the vice‑presidential vetting process in his new memoir, Where We Keep the Light, obtained by The New York Times.
According to a report on Sunday, Shapiro writes that the process was far more contentious than publicly understood, particularly regarding questions about his views on Israel.
The governor, who is Jewish, recounts that Harris’s vetting team focused heavily on his positions on Israel - to the point that he was asked whether he had ever been an agent of the Israeli government, a question he describes as deeply offensive.
“Had I been a double agent for Israel?" Shapiro wrote, recalling a last‑minute question from the vetting team. He said he responded that the question was offensive and was told, “Well, we have to ask."
Shapiro noted that he understood the questioner was “just doing her job," but added that being asked such questions “said a lot about some of the people around the VP."
He wrote that he was pressed repeatedly on Israel‑related issues. “I wondered whether these questions were being posed to just me - the only Jewish guy in the running - or if everyone who had not held a federal office was being grilled about Israel in the same way," he wrote.
Shapiro wrote that the sessions were “completely professional and businesslike," but added, “I just had a knot in my stomach through all of it."
A representative for Harris did not respond to a request for comment.
Shapiro spokesman Manuel Bonder said the governor “wrote a very personal book about his faith, his family, and the people of Pennsylvania he has learned from and fought for throughout his life in public service. The 2024 election is one small part of his much broader story."
The book is scheduled for release on January 27.
Shapiro was a finalist to become Harris’s vice presidential pick, but she ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
President Donald Trump, who defeated Harris in the 2024 election, has several times since insisted that Harris did not pick Shapiro, whom he said would have been a stronger choice than Walz, because of his Jewish heritage.
Shapiro previously denied that antisemitism played a role in his not becoming the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee and said Trump was the “least credible person" when it came to standing up against hatred and bigotry.
He then clarified, “Antisemitism played absolutely no role in my dialogue with the vice president. Absolutely none. It is also true that antisemitism is present in our commonwealth, in our country and in some areas within our party, and we have to stand up and speak out against that."