Josh Shapiro talks Gaza, Trump, and the future of the Democratic Party with Stephen A. Smith

Gov. Josh Shapiro seemed to be selling himself as a presidential candidate without outright saying it during a nearly hour-long interview with sports commentator Stephen A. Smith in New Orleans posted on Tuesday following the Eagles’ Super Bowl win.

When Smith asked Shapiro who is the “face” of the Democratic Party to take on President Donald Trump’s political following, Shapiro contended that the party will have “faces” until the next presidential race, but positioned himself as one of them.

“Stop looking at D.C. all the time. Look to what’s happening in the states. Look to how Democrats who are put in positions to govern are governing responsibly,” Shapiro said, pointing to Democratic governors in red Kentucky and Kansas, and in swingy Wisconsin, Michigan, and his own Pennsylvania, all of which voted for Trump.

“I think there’s a number of governors who are doing thoughtful things that matter in people’s lives,” he added.

Shapiro said the future of the party is “Democrats who have governed with common sense” and “can share a vision for this country that’s actually going to bring people back together,” and he framed himself as such throughout the interview.

Shapiro, widely considered a top contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential ticket, did not directly address his White House ambitions, but also did not refute the idea when Smith hinted at it.

“There’s a lot of people that look at Josh Shapiro and they say, ‘The country deserves more than him being in just Pennsylvania,’” said Smith, a former Inquirer sports columnist. “‘We need him for the United States of America.’”

Smith, for his part, ruled out rumors of his own presidential ambitions, saying he isn’t qualified for the job like Shapiro is.

Shapiro said Smith’s remarks were “very humbling.”

Shapiro said he tries to govern “in a way that brings people together” regardless of political party, contrasting himself with Trump, who he said is “focused on pitting Americans against one another.”

He criticized Trump for using “these Sharpie-signed executive orders to bully other people,” for killing a bipartisan border bill, and for using diversity, equity, and inclusion policies as “an excuse for everything” like the Washington plane crash.

“I’m proud to be a voice within the Democratic Party that is hopefully going to heal it from what we just went through, and is going to help move it along in a way that broadens the conversation to include more people,” he said.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the interview:

Shapiro, who was a top contender for the vice presidential nomination in Vice President Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful bid for president, did not say whether he would have accepted the position, but said he loves “being able to do my work on my terms” as governor.

He said that Democrats’ loss in the 2024 election was “years and years in the making,” in part because of people without college degrees not feeling represented by the way the party defines success.

“I’ve tried to govern differently,” Shapiro said. “… I try and do that in a way that lifts everybody up, doesn’t shut people out, doesn’t do it with an attitude of elitism or extremism, and it’s working in Pennsylvania.”

He pointed to his executive order removing a college-degree requirement for state jobs and said that the country needs a “comprehensive immigration solution … that actually listens to what farmers need in their communities.”

Shapiro tooted his own horn when it came to his ability to garner and maintain support from Republicans and independents, and said other politicians reach out to him for advice.

“I would argue I govern the toughest, most swingiest state in the entire country, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do there to bring people together and to not bully others, but to also not get ourselves so caught up in an extreme that we’re not able to have an honest conversation with people,” he said.

Shapiro called Trump’s proposal of the U.S. taking “ownership” of the Gaza Strip “unserious,” “unhelpful,” and “deeply disrespectful” to Palestinians.

Shapiro said that he wants Palestinians to have a state of their own that can peacefully coexist with Israel, and for all the hostages in Hamas captivity to come home — and that Trump’s remarks made those things harder to obtain.

“At this time, you still got about 100-ish hostages that aren’t home,” Shapiro said. “Why would you do anything to upset that process?”

Shapiro didn’t shy away from criticizing Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the Israeli leader has his own power, not Israel’s best interests, in mind.

“I think if you’re taking a long-term, sober look at Israel’s safety and security, you need to figure out a way for the Palestinians to — look, drive Hamas out, drive terrorism out, of course — but have a stable home where they can focus on their economic goals, their educational goals, their other goals as a nation, and that is going to create more peace and stability in the region,” Shapiro said. “And I don’t think Netanyahu thinks about that at all. He’s just trying to look at his short-term interests.”

When Smith asked him about the new federal Department of Government Efficiency, Shapiro said he is “glad” that Trump’s administration is looking for ways to cut spending, even saying “it’s not dissimilar to the kind of work we’re doing in Pennsylvania to cut costs.”

But Shapiro emphasized that the government needs to “go through a legal process to do that.” He said it’s “a little crazy” that members of Congress who allocated funding by law are not standing up to Trump and saying they have a “constitutional responsibility” to follow through with it.

He had the same criticism for Trump’s efforts to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“If he wants to propose a new law that does away with USAID and curtails its operations, that’s certainly his prerogative,” Shapiro said. “He won the election. He gets to put his mark on things, but he’s not a king. He doesn’t get to just sign an executive order and say, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ when there is a law in place.”

Shapiro said he’s had Republican members of Congress whisper in his ear that they don’t agree with Trump before praising the president in public the next day.

“The folks that I have a problem with are the enablers who know better, these members of Congress who have basically given up their constitutional responsibilities,” Shapiro said. “… Those are the folks I have a problem with, and how they go through those mental gymnastics and sleep at night, I don’t know.”