Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro slammed President Donald Trump for betraying his supporters in a fiery appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday.
Shapiro, a Democrat who represents the pivotal swing state narrowly won by Trump in last November’s election, accused the Republican of only showing up to make promises to blue-collar communities when he needs their vote and neglecting their concerns since returning to power.
Asked about his own appeal in a deep purple state, the governor answered: “I think what they saw in me is someone who gives a damn about them, who treats them with respect – where they go to college, they go to the military, they go to a union apprenticeship program. They saw in me someone who can actually cut through it and solve their problems.
“And the difference between me and the president is – he shows up in those areas. He talks a good game. And then when he gets to govern, he does the exact opposite.”
Pivoting to Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which was passed by Congress earlier this month despite widespread concerns about its impact on the national debt and welfare recipients, Shapiro invoked the Republican’s promises on the campaign trail.
“I was showing up in rural areas where Donald Trump was showing up, and he was pledging to not cut people off of Medicaid. And what’s the first big thing he does? He goes and he cuts 310,000 Pennsylvanians off of Medicaid with this bill they just passed, including 154,000 in communities that voted for him.”
The governor continued: “When I ran for office and he ran for office, we both ran with the support of local police. What have I done? I hired more police. We’ve gotten them more training. We brought crime down 38 percent in Pennsylvania.
“What did Donald Trump do? Literally, his first official action was to pardon people who assaulted cops on January 6 and sent some of those cops to their deaths.
“So what Donald Trump has done with the power is turned his back on those communities that voted for him. He’s abandoned them, and he has made their lives worse. My focus is on making their lives better.”
His comments were met with a surge of applause from the studio audience.
Responding, White House spokesperson Kush Desai told The Independent: “Whatever Democrat consultant told Josh Shaprio to launch his already-dead presidential campaign on a terribly-rated show that was just cancelled must’ve also given him these false talking points about Medicaid.
“President Trump made a clear pledge to the nearly 80 million Americans who resoundingly sent him back to the White House: to protect and preserve Medicaid. The One Big Beautiful Bill does just that by implementing common sense reforms and slashing waste, fraud, and abuse that safeguard Medicaid for the Americans who rely on the program.”
Shapiro was considered by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris as a potential running mate when she succeeded Joe Biden on their party’s ticket last summer, although she ultimately opted for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Colbert, whose show was recently cancelled, also trashed the president in his opening monologue, mocking him for denying ever having been briefed by Attorney General Pam Bondi about his name being mentioned in the Jeffrey Epstein files, only for The Wall Street Journal to allege that he had been told exactly that in May.
The host also derided the president for losing the support of “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley, the poster boy for the Capitol riot, alluded to by Shapiro.
Trump pardoned Chansley and hundreds of other rioters as soon as he returned to office in January, but the self-styled shaman appears to have become infuriated by the administration's more recent actions, writing on social media: “F*** this stupid piece of s***... What a fraud.”
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