Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said staff members vetting him as a potential 2024 running mate for then-Vice President Kamala Harris pressed him on Israel in a way he believed to be offensive, given his Jewish faith.
In his new memoir, "Where We Keep the Light," Shapiro wrote that Harris' vetting team scrutinized his views on Israel and, at the last minute, asked a question that left him stunned.
"Had I been a double agent for Israel?" Shapiro wrote, according to The New York Times.
Shapiro said he called out the question for its "obvious antisemitic overtones" and claimed the vetting team responded, "Well, we have to ask."
In his book, the Keystone State Democrat alleged that former White House counsel Dana Remus asked, "Have you ever communicated with an undercover agent of Israel?" His response was blunt, Shapiro wrote: "If they were undercover, I responded, how the hell would I know?"
While Shapiro wrote that he does not blame Remus personally for asking what she was directed to ask, he said that the Harris team's line of questioning revealed "a lot about some of the people around the VP."
According to the Times, neither a representative for Remus nor Harris commented on Shapiro's allegation.
The outlet also reported Shapiro's account of being challenged over his public opposition to what he viewed as antisemitism on college campuses during the Israel-Hamas war.
"Mr. Shapiro, an outspoken critic of what he saw as antisemitism on college campuses amid the Israel-Hamas war, wrote that he faced skepticism of that record during vetting," the Times report read. "When Ms. Harris asked if he 'would be willing to apologize for the statements I had made, particularly over what I saw happening at the University of Pennsylvania,' he replied that he would not, he wrote."
Shapiro wrote that he stood by his stance, saying, "I believe in free speech, and I'll defend it with all I've got."
He added that campus speech is often protected even when controversial.
"Most of the speech on campus, even that which I disagreed with, was peaceful and constitutionally protected," Shapiro said. "But some wasn't peaceful."
He also wrote that he questioned whether the intensity of the Israel-related questioning was unique to him.
"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.
While describing the experience as uncomfortable, Shapiro wrote that the vetting team remained "professional and businesslike," though he admitted to having "a knot in my stomach through all of it."
"Where We Keep the Light" is set for release on Jan. 27.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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