Jewish leaders angry that Harris passed on Shapiro for VP, claim religious heritage was 'vilified'

In a move that shocked many within the Democratic Party, Vice President Kamala Harris chose radical progressive Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate over VP frontrunner Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

While Harris is obviously free to choose anyone she wishes, it's the likely reasoning behind her decision to bypass Shapiro that has many top Jewish leaders extremely upset, according to the New York Post.

New York Jewish leaders believe Shapiro was "vilified" in an "ugly, antisemitic campaign," which ultimately pressured Harris into picking Walz over the pro-Israel Shapiro.

Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, released a statement regarding his thoughts on why Shapiro was looked over in the final moments of her VP decision.

"No one should dismiss that Gov. Shapiro was subjected to an ugly, antisemitic campaign to delegitimize him," Treyger said.

The Post noted:

Leftist Democrats and Israel critics labeled Shapiro “genocide Josh” for his support of Israel amid the war with Hamas in Gaza. The left-leaning magazine Jacobin even railed in a headline, “Josh Shapiro’s Palestine Record Should Disqualify Him as VP.”

Treyger, the son of Ukrainian Jewish refugees and grandson of Holocaust survivors, added, "No one should take the Jewish community’s vote for granted."

“No one should take the Jewish community’s vote for granted” ⁦@MarkTreyger718⁩ https://t.co/MgIrLua47g

— Maury Litwack (@mlitwack) August 8, 2024

He went on to pointed out that policy-wise, there wasn't a massive gap between him and other top contenders, implying that his Jewish heritage ensured that he wouldn't be picked by Harris, who was more than likely focusing on appeasing the anti-Israel element of the Democratic Party.

"There was not much daylight between Josh Shapiro and the other contenders on policy. But he was singled out, he was vilified," Treyger claimed.

Others had similar views on why they believe Harris passed up Shapiro for Walz.

"You can be excited about the Walz pick but also be sad that an outright antisemitic campaign was waged against Shapiro," said Maury Litwack, the founder and CEO of the Teach Coalition, a group that works with Jewish voters.

Harris and her campaign denied that Shapiro was overlooked because of his Jewish roots, pointing out that her husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish.

Many others, including Democratic congressmen, still believe it's obvious why Shapiro didn't make the cut, and they're justifiable angry about it.