Alabama Republican Party chairman John Wahl recently gave his take on presidential hopeful Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate pick, claiming the anticipated choice, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), was passed over because the Democrats could not pick a Jewish candidate for the position.
On Tuesday morning, Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, chose Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) for vice president over several considered viable candidates.
Commentators predicted that Harris would select Shapiro, especially after Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker posted and then deleted an X post declaring Shapiro as the VP pick. Many interpreted the deleted post as a premature announcement not intended to go public.
Since picking Walz over Shapiro, Democratic and Republican commentators alike have speculated that Shapiro’s snub was capitulation on the part of the Democrats to anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian sentiments in the party.
Harris has already come under fire from Alabama’s federal delegation for slighting Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by not attending his address before Congress and for not greeting him when he arrived on U.S. soil.
During a Tuesday appearance on Mobile radio's FM Talk 106.5, Wahl echoed those sentiments, claiming the Democrats could not bring themselves to prop up a Jewish candidate with much of the party’s base expressing anti-Jewish sentiments.
“In my opinion, their best choice would have been the governor of Pennsylvania,” Wahl said. “[He’s] been able to do very well in that state. It’s a state the Democrats need to win in November, but they couldn’t choose him because he’s Jewish, and that would have upset their coalition with all these radical pro-Palestinian groups across the country. I think that highlights right there the Democrat party we have today. They could not take their best choice because of how divisive their coalition has become and how much they hate, in this case, the Jewish state.”
The Walz pick puzzled many others, as Pennsylvania remains a swing state, while Minnesota is almost certain to go for the Democrats. According to Wahl, the choice not to secure Pennsylvania by selecting its governor is indicative of the pervasiveness of anti-Jewish sentiments in the Democratic Party.
“If you’re looking at this from a pure, strategic political move, Pennsylvania is the state you want to win,” Wahl said. “It’s within range, and picking that governor probably would have secured Pennsylvania for the Democrats. And I think there’s no reason for them not to have done that except for that fear and caving to the pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas activists within the Democrat party.”
He continued, “It’s an area where Democrats have shown just how bad their policies are. And look, I have not seen actual data on this. I don’t know as a country. I do know, for here in Alabama, that Alabama supports Israel, both Republicans and Democrats in Alabama. If you look at polling numbers, I believe that trend continues nationally, and I think the people of America want to stand behind the state of Israel. We want to help them be successful, and we understand the battle they’re in for just survival and how they’re hated just because of their ethnic and religious background. And I think the fact that the Democrats don’t is a great area for us to highlight.”
Wahl further criticized Walz’s policies initiated during his time as governor, specifically on the issue of so-called gender-affirming care for minors.
“Some of his policies, what we’ve seen come out of his leadership in Minnesota, have been absolutely heartbreaking,” Wahls said. “It really shows how much he is out of touch with the American people. It continues the Democrats’ trend of pushing their social ideology and their aggressiveness in picking far-left radicals and pushing their agenda. Look, we’re talking about a governor who signed a bill into law, saying not just that transgender care was going to be allowed for their citizens but that they were a safe haven for children across the country who wanted to escape their parents and come to Minnesota and get some of the most twisted procedures in the world done to them. Literally, minors, without parental rights, engaged in this transgender woke-ism that we’re seeing pushed by these far leftists.”
“I’m just going to use that one example; there’s dozens others in different areas where he has really shown his true colors. But I think that highlights, to me, the type of person we’re talking about and how far out of touch he is with mainstream America who believe in parental rights and believe in defending children and making sure they’re old enough to make proper decisions for themselves instead of allowing this socialist agenda to take the lead and be the controlling force in our families," he added.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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