Josh Shapiro will be at Kamala Harris’ rally in Philly. But what will his role be?

When Vice President Kamala Harris appears for the first time with her running mate in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said he hopes and plans to be in attendance.

But it’s still unclear what his role will be at that event.

Shapiro, a finalist to be Harris’ running mate, again on Friday declined to comment on whether he had participated in the vetting process or whether he had plans to meet with Harris this weekend. He has consistently dodged the questions about whether he wants the job, adding that it’s a “deeply personal decision” for Harris.

Harris will host a rally at Temple University’s Liacouras Center on Tuesday with her new vice presidential candidate, before kicking off a swing state tour across the country.

Shapiro answered questions about Harris’ running mate selection as he appeared Friday at a bill signing at Cheyney University for higher education initiatives aimed at improving the affordability of college for in-state and out-of-state students. Such events usually draw a small gaggle of reporters, but there were more than a dozen cameras from national TV networks, all hoping to catch Shapiro. A throng of reporters shouted questions over one another.

Shapiro even joked that he wished someone would ask him about the new higher education programs, or about Cheyney, the nation’s first historically Black university.

Harris is a graduate of Howard University, another historically Black university.

Harris will meet with the finalists this weekend to make her final decision, according to news reports. Shapiro canceled his planned fundraisers in the Hamptons this weekend. (Other contenders to be Harris’ running mate reportedly canceled weekend plans as well.)

When asked about what he’d be doing instead, Shapiro laughed and said “Y’all think I’m going to tell you what I’m doing? Come on.”

Although Shapiro declined to speculate on Harris’ upcoming decision, he continued his low-key audition for the second spot by taking swings at former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance.

First, Shapiro condemned Trump’s comments about Harris’ racial identity, in which Trump claimed this week that Harris had “all of a sudden” decided to be Black, because she also has South Asian heritage. His comments have been widely rejected.

“It’s offensive, and it is more of the same for Donald Trump,” Shapiro said. “He attacks other people based on what they look like, or who they pray to ... He tries to divide Americans.”

Shapiro also responded to remarks from Vance, who described Shapiro in a podcast interview as, “like if I try to do a really bad impression of Barack Obama, that’s what it would sound like.”

Shapiro also called Vance a “phony baloney” who doesn’t know what he stands for.

“That is why it is impossible for him to articulate a coherent message to the American people,” Shapiro said. “It is clear that Donald Trump has buyer’s remorse with his pick.”

The governor added: “If he wants to sling insults in my direction — which I’m not sure is even an insult — let him do it. That’s fine. Bring it on.”

Obama, Shapiro said, is “probably one of our most gifted orators of my time.”

Shapiro also responded to a 1993 column he wrote for his college newspaper, in which he argued that peace “will never come” to the Middle East, and that it no longer represents his beliefs.

In the column headlined “Peace not possible,” which The Inquirer uncovered and reported on Friday, the then-20-year-old Shapiro argued that Palestinians are “too battle-minded” to coexist with Israel and a two state-solution was unlikely.

“[That’s] something I wrote when I was 20. I was 20,” Shapiro said. “I have said for years, years before Oct. 7, that I favor a two-state solution. Israelis and Palestinians living peacefully side-by-side, being able to determine their own futures and their own destiny.”

At an unrelated event Friday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) added his voice to the chorus Pennsylvania Democrats who are pushing for Shapiro to get the vice presidential nomination. He said Shapiro is “ready to take the job” as Harris’ vice president, adding that the governor is a “great communicator” who knows how to lead major initiatives in a big state.

“I think Josh is prepared right now not only to do the work of a candidate for vice president, but most importantly, I think he’s prepared to do the job that he and Kamala Harris would be elected in,” said Casey, who is up for reelection in November.

“I’m obviously very biased in favor of Josh,” Casey added.

Staff writer Hannah Nguyen contributed reporting.