CNN anchor admits Shapiro on Harris ticket would have been 'slap in the face' to Democrat 'activist wing'

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Gov. Shaprio on Harris ticket would have been 'slap in the face' to Dem 'activist wing' says CNN anchor

CNN anchor Audie Cornish suggested on Tuesday that Kamala Harris chose Gov. Tim Walz because Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was considered the favorite, might have looked like a "slap in the face" to the "activist wing" of the party.

CNN anchor Audie Cornish suggested Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., wasn't chosen as Kamala Harris' running mate because it would have been a "slap in the face" to the "activist wing" of the Democratic Party, specifically those who participated in the college protests over the Israel-Hamas war. 

"Tim Walz also spoke conciliatory towards those people. He said, look, that uncommitted vote is significant, and those people should be heard. So having that kind of response, I think, is probably more of an open door to the parts of the party that had been very frustrated with the Democrats," Cornish began, noting the uncommitted protest vote against President Biden during the Democratic primaries.

Harris selected Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., as her running mate on Tuesday. Shapiro was widely considered to be a frontrunner in the veepstakes, given his high approval rating as governor of a critical swing state.

Cornish said of Shapiro, "He’s also the face of the crackdown on the protests, right? He spoke very vehemently about those campus protests as being antisemitic. So I’m wondering if that’s the kind of thing that, again, for the activist wing of the party, they felt was a slap in the face."

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CNN's Audie Cornish discusses Kamala Harris' decision to pick Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.  (Screenshot/CNN)

"I also think there are a lot of similarities in their actual positions, Tim Walz and Josh Shapiro, towards all of what you are talking about, the Israel-Hamas war, Netanyahu, that point to challenges based around the Pennsylvania governor’s faith," CNN host Kasie Hunt said. 

Hunt added that Harris might have some regrets if the race comes down to Pennsylvania and former President Trump ends up winning. 

"I think the thing about Shapiro, if this election comes down to Pennsylvania and Kamala Harris loses the election because she loses Pennsylvania, she’s going to have some real — not necessarily buyer’s remorse for Tim Walz, we’ll have to see how he acquits himself – but some wishes that maybe she picked Josh Shapiro in this moment. I think it does say something about how Kamala Harris makes decisions," she said. 

"Deciding to pick somebody like that in this kind of a moment demonstrates a level of fortitude that I think a lot of people might have brought a lot of respect to the table for. And I think there are definitely some Democrats I have spoken to today who see this as a missed opportunity," Hunt continued. 

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Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appear on stage together during a campaign event at Girard College on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

CNN's Abby Phillip suggested earlier in the discussion that Harris' choice was a way to avoid antagonizing the uncommitted vote in Minnesota from the primaries.

"Would it help in Pennsylvania? Absolutely. But there’s more to this than that," she said of the Pennsylvania governor. "And I think, ultimately, Shapiro, I think fit is important, but I also think that when you look at the principle of do no harm, maybe they did say, in a state like Minnesota, do we want to — those 100,000 uncommitted voters who came out about the Gaza war, do we want to antagonize those voters? Those are all part of the questions as well," Phillip said. 

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Jake Tapper argued during the discussion that Shapiro had been more critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than Walz, while noting Shapiro is Jewish.