Josh Shapiro says antisemitism is a problem on left and right

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said antisemitism is present in both major U.S. parties and urged leaders to confront it regardless of political alignment, in comments he made in an interview with the Associated Press published Monday. Shapiro spoke as he navigates an intensified national debate over Israel’s war in Gaza and amid heightened personal risk tied to threats.

When asked by AP reporter Steve Peoples whether the April 13, 2025, attack on his home is something he still thinks about, Shapiro said the experience remains present even though he was not killed. Shapiro said, “I’m one of the fortunate ones in that I wasn’t killed,” and he added that he was also not physically injured like some other public figures who have been targets of political violence. He said, however, that the incident left him with ongoing effects, saying, “But I think we also walk around with the emotional scars of it.”

Shapiro said the emotional impact is something he works through as a family man rather than only as an elected official. He described how, in his view, the work he loves and the purpose he finds in it became the circumstance that brought his family “close to death,” and said he is “still working through it candidly.”

On antisemitism inside his own political coalition, Shapiro said he believes the issue affects both parties. He told Peoples, “I think antisemitism is a very real problem in both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party,” and he said the problem exists “on the political left and the political right.” Shapiro also argued that leadership matters, saying there should be “no place for it” and pointing to public figures he cited as examples of what he said happens when antisemitic voices are allowed a platform without condemnation.

Shapiro was asked what he says to Democrats who have attacked him for his views on Israel’s war in Gaza, including those who use the phrase “Genocide Josh.” Shapiro said there are “really two conversations here,” first focused on “antisemitism and hatred and bigotry.” On that question, he said it is “a black and white issue” and added that “there’s no nuance.” He then said a second conversation concerns U.S. policy in the Middle East and that those policy disagreements can involve “honest disagreements,” while he said he does not think name-calling helps.

Asked about whether his Jewish faith informs his perspective on President Donald Trump, Shapiro said he does not consult his faith to decide where he will stand on specific issues. Shapiro told Peoples, “I don’t check with my faith as to where I’m going to be on an issue,” but he described what he said his faith teaches him about how to treat others. He said his faith teaches him to “love thy neighbor” and to have “respect for others,” and he said Trump, in his view, violates those teachings by scapegoating and disrespecting others.

Shapiro also addressed what he does day to day in response to antisemitism and threats. Asked whether he confronts antisemitism on a day-to-day basis, he said, “Yes,” and he connected it to threats made against him and his family that he said are motivated by faith. Shapiro referenced an arrest for what he described as “terroristic threats and stalking” in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and said he believes there is “a rise in threats and a rise in hate” directed at him and his family.

Even as he described rising threats, Shapiro said they do not change how he approaches public life. He said, “it doesn’t deter me,” adding that he “refuse[s] to live in fear, refuse[s] to back down.” Shapiro also said he finds support in what he described as the growing presence of people who he said bring “light and joy” and who respect their neighbors even when faiths differ.

In the interview, Shapiro also responded to a question about whether Kamala Harris’ team asked him if he were a “double agent for Israel.” He said he did not label the question in that way, and he said he believed the people involved had a right to ask what they wanted. Shapiro said he thought it was important to express how he felt during that process, and he said that “as for what their motivations were,” he believes “they’re going to have to answer those questions.”