Gov. Josh Shapiro says he’s ready to take on Trump during a visit to a West Philly barber shop: ‘I’ve got a job to do’

Gov. Josh Shapiro chatted with workers at a West Philadelphia barbershop Thursday, weighing in on Sixers player Paul George’s knee injury and group chat gossip, and ribbing one of the barbers at Philly Cuts for daring to cut the hair of Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum.

“Love thy neighbor — except for Celtics and Cowboys,” the governor joked.

But after the barbershop talk — and discussion of Shapiro’s effort to speed up licensing timelines for local businesses, the reason for the governor’s visit to the shop — Darryl Thomas, the owner of Philly Cuts, told Shapiro he had a hardball question.

“What can you tell this community that the state will do to protect us from that guy?” Thomas asked Shapiro, referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The business owner cited his concerns over cuts to SNAP, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as deportation efforts.

Shapiro — seated in a barber chair in the Black-owned business surrounded by posters of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, former President Barack Obama, and, of course, the Philadelphia Eagles — said he’s not afraid to take on Trump.

“I am mindful that the people of Pennsylvania chose Donald Trump,” Shapiro said. “I’m also mindful that two years ago, they chose me. And I think we have to respect their choices, but I also would say I’ve got a job to do to make sure people’s rights are protected and their needs are looked after.”

It’s a familiar posture for Shapiro. As Pennsylvania’s attorney general during Trump’s first term, he was frequently at odds with the administration, suing several times alongside other Democratic governors and garnering national attention by fighting Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

But Shapiro, who has built a national brand as a moderate Democrat willing to reach across the aisle, struck a congenial tone when talking about working with Republican Dave McCormick in Congress. On Thursday evening, amid a recount in the tight Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race, incumbent Bob Casey conceded and congratulated McCormick, formally ending his election bid.

“We have a nice, cordial relationship,” Shapiro said of McCormick. “If that’s the person the good people of Pennsylvania chose, of course we’re going to work together to bring home the resources to our commonwealth, to protect the rights and interests of our commonwealth, and I trust we’ll work really well together.”

But Shapiro also said he shared fears with Thomas over Trump’s second presidency, saying he is “very scared” that the new administration will make cuts to federal safety nets like food stamps and Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act. Shapiro said his administration is assessing how the state can continue to provide such services in Pennsylvania if they’re cut by the federal government.

“These are programs that some of our people, quite a bit of our people, are relying upon to exist, to survive, to eat,” said Thomas, the barbershop owner. “So with Philly Cuts being in the trenches and feeling the pulse of the people, it concerns us.”

When asked by The Inquirer whether he is concerned about Trump’s selection of celebrity doctor and onetime Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Mehmet Oz to oversee the federal department in charge of Medicare and Medicaid, Shapiro emphasized that he is focused on protecting Pennsylvanians’ support systems. The governor said he will be watching Trump and his cabinet members who oversee health care “very closely.”

When asked about transgender rights, a focus of Republican lawmakers and Trump’s 2024 campaign, Shapiro reiterated that he will ensure “that Pennsylvanians’ rights across the board are protected.” The same sentiment, he said, extends to immigrants in the state.

“I’m mindful the president-elect is going to try to attack our immigrant communities and that’s something that we’re thinking a lot about in terms of the power he has versus the power the governor has in that conversation,” Shapiro said.

As he chatted with local salon owners, workers at the barbershop, and customers getting their hair done, Shapiro couldn’t avoid the question of the fate of SEPTA, which narrowly averted a strike this week but continues to face a fiscal crisis. He stayed tight-lipped, but said he won’t let the agency fail.

“I’ll have more to say on that soon,” he told reporters Thursday afternoon.

The visit to Philly Cuts marked a return for Shapiro, who previously got his hair trimmed at the Black-owned business two years ago when he was running for governor. Vice President Kamala Harris made a campaign appearance at the same barbershop last month.

While chatting with the crowd at the barbershop, Shapiro also offered his administration’s help on a variety of issues, from helping businesses learn how to get insured to following up with a person struggling to pay restitution, and asked for ideas for improving government services. Shapiro received high praise from the group inside Philly Cuts, who called him a man of his word. Thomas, the shop owner, said that his barbershop management license renewal was approved within one day instead of two weeks, crediting Shapiro’s efforts to speed up the process.

When one salon owner told Shapiro she’s scared to now live in a red state, he said with a grin: “You got me, you’re all right.”