Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro recalled to “The Breakfast Club” in a new interview how he tried to deliver then-President Joe Biden bad news about the election before Biden dropped out of the race.
Nearly a year after the 2024 election, which was seen as a reckoning for Democrats, the party is still trying to make sense of where they have gone wrong in recent years.
Shapiro, who presents himself as a moderate for the party who goes out of his way to engage with conservatives, spoke candidly about his sober warnings to Biden when Biden was still the de facto 2024 Democratic nominee.
“I went directly to the president and spoke to him about what I saw were, you know, his challenges in Pennsylvania. I was really honest with him,” Shapiro said. “We got together at a coffee shop in Harrisburg. I think this has been reported. I mean, I’ll just share with you. He said, ‘How’s it going?’ I was very clear: ‘It’s not going well.’”
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JOSH SHAPIRO SAYS KAMALA IS ‘GOING TO HAVE TO ANSWER’ FOR WHY SHE NEVER RAISED CONCERNS OVER BIDEN’S HEALTH
Gov. Josh Shapiro recalled telling then-President Biden the election was not looking good in his state.(Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)
He then recalled what he had told Biden at the time.
“’Polls are showing it’s not going well,” he said. “I don’t think you’re handling the cost question. Back to what we talked about before with rising costs. It was a big theme in the campaign. Big issue in Pennsylvania. I didn’t think they were handling that well. I expressed that I thought people thought he wasn’t up to the job.”
Shapiro argued that his personal style and approach shaped the way he handled this conversation.
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“Look, maybe it’s old school, but I believe that if you got something to say, you say it directly to that person’s face, and he’s the president of the United States. I respected him, still respect him, and I respect him enough to say it directly to his face,” he said.
When asked how this sobering assessment was received at the time, Shapiro replied, “I think he heard it. He told me that their poll numbers were different, and he seemed committed to continuing forward. And, listen, that’s his call.”
KAMALA HARRIS REVEALS WHAT BIDEN TOLD HER JUST BEFORE CRUCIAL DEBATE WITH TRUMP THAT LEFT HER ‘ANGRY’
Many Democrats have reflected on their statements and interactions during the Biden campaign and the Harris campaign that followed.(Mark Makela/Getty Images)
He also recalled arguing to Biden that part of his issue was that Biden’s team wasn’t straightforward with its own boss.
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“Breakfast Club” host Charlamagne tha God argued that such stories need to be told by any future Democratic Party contenders for the presidency, arguing that “anybody that wants to lead this party in the future has to throw that old regime under the bus.”
Shapiro, however, disagreed.
“I don’t believe that you get ahead in life by throwing people under the bus,” he said. “I don’t believe that I got to kick somebody in order to get ahead. I think you’ve got to show your work. I think you’ve got to show a vision. I think you’ve got to tell people what you’re all about.”
Shapiro was vetted as a possible running mate for Kamala Harris, but she ultimately chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Shapiro was prescient about Democrats’ issues in his state because Trump went on to win Pennsylvania and the presidency.
Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s staff and did not receive an immediate response.
Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Alexander.hall@fox.com.
The Parkway East’s Commercial Street Bridge is about to blow – but it’s not happening on Wednesday night.
PennDOT say they were going to bring down the bridge sometime between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday, but around 8 p.m officials and security said the explosion was postponed.
The demolition will be shown live on PennDOT’s project page or 511 PA, which also has cameras placed along the project’s detour routes.
Watch the live stream here:
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A crowd of about 100 people gathered Wednesday evening at the Summerset at Frick Park residential development for a front-row view of the bridge demolition.
The atmosphere felt more like a neighborhood block party than a construction event. Families brought their children and pets, while groups of friends arrived carrying pizzas and coolers of beer. Lawn chairs lined the hillside as people in shorts and sunglasses settled in to wait for the explosion. Some spectators wore earplugs in anticipation of the blast.
A man with a ukulele strummed some folk tunes to liven the expectant atmosphere as police wrapped red caution tape around the edge of the hill, denoting the 800-foot security perimeter around the bridge.
Merav Amos, from Squirrel Hill, brought her family for a picnic, complete with books, lawn chairs and glasses of wine.
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Amos said she planned the trip when PennDOT released its expected demolition window, but realized then and there that there was one thing she had forgotten.
“I actually hope it’s not going to be too loud, because we don’t have earplugs,” she said.
Amos lives near the Parkway East’s local detour route, and has had to deal with traffic increasing near her home since the bridge closed on Friday. She hoped watching the demolition live would provide a satisfying payoff.
“The last few days were very rough,” she said. “I want to see some action.”
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Jim Christy, of Robinson, parked in the South Side and made the journey over on his bike to watch the explosion.
Christy frequently bikes through the Frick Park trails — some of which were restricted on Wednesday ahead of the demolition.
(WFSB) – The Connecticut Technical Education and Career System is under investigation by the United States Department of Education.
In a letter sent to the superintendent obtained by Channel 3, the nature of the investigation centers around the district’s handling of rape and/or sexual assault cases by school staff.
“Due to the District’s inaccurate responses to the rape and/or sexual assault data elements involving allegations against school staff of OCR’s 2023–24 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the directed investigation will examine whether the District has policies and procedures in place to ensure accurate data collection and reporting and that its handling of the sexual harassment, including sexual assault, of students by District teachers, administrators, and/or staff members is consistent with the requirements of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and its implementing regulation,” said the letter in part.
Read it in full below:
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The school system issued a statement in response to the investigation.
A poster of Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, the man killed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is displayed at a memorial in Biddeford, Maine.Robert F. Bukaty/AP
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The day after hundreds of locals poured into the streets of Biddeford, Maine in protest of ICE’s killing of 26-year-old Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero on Monday, I drove through the former mill town. It seemed eerily still, as if in shock. When the horrors of Minneapolis and Houston come to your small corner of New England, what can you do?
In Mechanics Park in Biddeford, a small but diligent group presented one answer: you keep showing up.
“When I woke up this morning, I knew that this was the place I should go right to,” said Wayne Miller, 71, a retired pilot of 35 years and resident of Beverly, Massachusetts. “This is my backyard. This is my neighborhood.”
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He paused, then started to cry. “I’m ashamed of my country. I love the country. I’m ashamed.”
Miller was standing with a sign that read “Dissent while you still can” at the corner of Mechanics Park in Biddeford, where the protest and vigil for Guerrero had been held the day before. A nearby chain-link fence served as a memorial, lined with flowers, signs, and letters of grief and apology for Guerrero and his family. One read, “3-year-olds should be watching Bluey, not their fathers being executed.” Above a “No Trespassing” sign, someone had placed another: “Biddeford was built by immigrants.”
I spoke with Miller and others who had come out on Tuesday to continue expressing their grief for their neighbor, the second person killed by federal agents in less than a week.
“It’s one thing to see a news story from a distance,” said Tessa, 28, a waitress and resident of Biddeford. “But watching it happen close to home, it really recontextualizes the safety that you feel walking around in your neighborhood.”
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For Linda Henry, 27, a retired firefighter and Gloucester, Massachusetts resident, it was only a matter of time. “I know that it doesn’t matter where you live. It’s going to happen, you know. ICE is going to come.”
“I’m ashamed of my country. I love the country. I’m ashamed.”
Guerrero was a Colombian citizen who lived in Biddeford, Maine with his partner and 3-year-old daughter. He is one of at least nine people killed by federal immigration agents since the start of Donald Trump’s second term. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin claims Guerrero “weaponized” his vehicle during a traffic stop. But similar claims by DHS have quickly fallen apart after video footage of shootings has come to light.
Reports say that not only was Guerrero authorized to legally work in the US, but he wasn’t the target of ICE’s operations that day.
Katie, a 48-year-old educator from New Hampshire, shared her anger. “A gun is not a license to kill. These agents have no business drawing their guns,” she said. “They aren’t judge, jury, and executioner, and they don’t have the right to be killing people the way that they are.”
“We were taught from the time we were little, ‘liberty and justice for all.’ We were taught that the United States was a place for everyone, and the current regime has changed that,” Katie continued.
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A sign at a makeshift memorial for Guerrero at Mechanics Park in Biddeford, Maine.
Most of the protesters were standing with signs on the sidewalk along the adjacent intersection, shouting “ICE OUT” while passing cars honked. Near the memorial, a man on a bike caught my eye. He was off to the side, alone, quietly reading the letters addressed to Guerrero.
He introduced himself as Diego, 30, a restaurant worker and Biddeford resident. “I knew the guy. He was always around,” he said. “I was working and I was about to cry, to be honest. Because it’s injustice, you know? I’m an immigrant, and this country was built for immigrants.”
“We work, we pay taxes. We also need rights, as everybody does,” he said. “It’s not about left or right. It’s not about a political party. It’s about human rights.”
He told me that while he’s never felt disrespected by his neighbors and the people of Biddeford are good, the government is not the same. He said he feels unsafe and his community of immigrants feels like it’s hiding.
“How many need to die for us to understand?” Diego said. “He’d got a kid, a little daughter. And that’s the most devastating. Because, you know, if I do something wrong, I can say ‘I’m sorry, I apologize.’ But he’s dead. There’s no apology that can bring him back, you know? He’s dead. I can’t even believe it, I can’t even believe this is happening.”
Letters, flowers, and signs lined the fence at Mechanics Park.
When I asked Diego why he had stopped on his bike, he said out of solidarity—for Guerrero, for his partner and daughter. And when I asked what he would say to his community, he said, “Thank you for all the solidarity of people. Thank you for all the understanding. And I hope we can stop the violence.”
