One of the frontrunners to be Kamala Harris’ VP pick has been accused of covering up a sexual harassment scandal and being too insecure to be “second under a woman.”
Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, has consistently topped lists of potential running mates for the Democratic nominee-apparent, someone who had previously shown no hint of providing material for Republicans to latch on to.
But now a Democrat running to be Pennsylvania’s state treasurer has launched an attack on Gov. Shapiro on X (formerly Twitter), claiming he would “undermine” Harris’ presidency.
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“I want a VP pick that’s secure enough to be second under a woman, is content to be VP & won’t undermine the President to maneuver his own election & doesn’t sweep sexual harassment under the rug,” Erin McClelland wrote on X. She then threw her support behind North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to be Harris’ pick for vice president.
She added, “I want someone that can speak to rural voters. That is @RoyCooperNC.”
Although McClelland did not directly name Shapiro—who is on Harris’ shortlist for vice president—she confirmed that her tweet was about him to the New York Post.
McClelland told the New York Post that Harris should “think very strongly about the difficulties that some women experience being in a top-level” and ensure that she has men around her who would be “satisfied with being second, third or answering to a woman.”
According to McClelland, Shapiro is not one of those men.
The “sexual harassment” McClelland was apparently referring to in her tweet was the departure of his top legislative liaison Mike Vereb, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Shapiro’s office paid $295,000 in a settlement to a woman who accused Vereb of harassment, but Vereb himself did not resign until months later.
The Daily Beast has approached Shapiro for comment. His office previously declined to comment to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
