Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday waded through a wide-ranging interview on a popular syndicated radio talk show, unpacking a slew of topics from his family’s experience with political violence, Trump’s tariffs and the 2024 presidential race.
Appearing on The Breakfast Club with host Charlamagne tha God, (Lenard Larry McKelvey) and co-host DJ Envy (RaaShaun Casey), Shapiro opened up about the traumatic experience of being targeted in a firebombing attack earlier this year on the Governor’s Residence, while he and his family slept.
“(T)he hardest part of this whole thing for me has been knowing that the job I love, being governor of Pennsylvania, serving the good people of Pennsylvania, put my family’s lives at risk,” Shapiro said.
Cody Balmer, 38, of Penbrook, this week pleaded guilty to all charges in the April 13 early morning attack, which caused millions in damage.
Shapiro described how Balmer was wielding a metal hammer that he said he was going to use to “try to kill me.”
“The thing for me….I’m just being really, honest that I’m working through is how to keep my family safe doing the job I love. That, by the way, I feel real purpose in, serving people and the notion that people now need to choose between their family’s safety and well-being and doing public service, that’s a hard thing for me to work through as a dad and beyond being a governor.”
Shapiro said the attack underscored “tremendous failures from a security standpoint.” He said he maintains confidence in the Pennsylvania State Police, which has overhauled security procedures and systems at the residence.
“I’m unwilling to be a victim the rest of my life paralyzed by fear,” Shapiro said. “And I’m not going to be deterred in doing this work. I’m not going to be deterred in practicing my faith.”
During the nationally syndicated iHeartRadio hip-hop show, which reaches about 6 million subscribers, an overwhelming number of them Black and brown audiences, Shapiro excoriated President Trump and his economic policies, particularly tariffs, which he said continue to drive up costs for consumers and harm the business and manufacturing sectors.
In addition to tariffs, Shapiro answered questions about the federal government shutdown and the increasing cost of living, which DJ Envy said is making it harder for Americans to buy groceries, cars, pay rent and mortgage and send kids to school.
Economists say tariffs are pushing inflation generally higher, according to a recent Federal Reserve report.
Shapiro tore into Trump tariffs, which have decimated farms across the country as farmers are unable to tap behemoth markets like China.
Shapiro said he has done more for rural farmers in Pennsylvania than the Trump administration.
“Affordability is a problem because of the president’s tariffs,” the governor said. “I mean, that is the dumbest policy. It has caused prices to rise. It has shut down markets for farmers. It has shut down markets for Pennsylvania manufacturers. And you go to the grocery store, things cost more. ….Everything you’re buying costs more because Donald Trump pushed a button and started a tariff war, a trade war with our allies, with Canada, with countries that we do business with to the benefit of Americans.”
Shapiro said he was not opposed to targeted tariffs designed to protect the steel industry, “but these blanket tariffs that he pulls out of his ass and doesn’t really have a number that makes a whole lot of sense, is having a singular effect in my state and across the country.”
Shapiro is widely expected to seek re-election in 2026. His likely opponent: Republican Stacy Garrity, the state treasurer, who in August announced her entry in the race.
Shapiro also has emerged among the top contenders for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
With his outsized number of subscribers, Charlamagne during the 2024 presidential election, was harshly critical of Democrats. He famously described the contest to Politico as one between “the cowards, the crooks and the couch.”
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Charlemagne asked Shapiro to weigh in on former Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ analysis of why she didn’t pick Shapiro as a running mate in 2024 — a topic she broaches in her new book “107 Days.” Shapiro said he has been too busy “dealing with the effects of the fact that we lost the 2024 election… Dealing with Donald Trump wanting to send troops into our streets…” to read the book.
Asked for his reaction to Harris writing that Shapiro came across as too ambitious for her liking, the governor said: “I guess that’s a question for her. She clearly thought it.”
Shapiro said: “I worked my butt off to help her get elected.”
Pressed by Charlamagne on whether he thought Harris had failed the party by not speaking out on then-President Joe Biden’s fitness for a second term, Shapiro deflected by saying he had gone directly to the former president to share his concerns about troubling poll numbers in the most critical swing state at the time.
“Look, I may be old school, but I believe that if you’ve got something to say, you say it directly to that person’s face,” he said. “He’s the President of the United States. I respected him, still respect him. And I respect him enough to say it directly to his face. How was it received? I think he heard it.”
In the end, Shapiro said, Biden said he had his own polls and at the time seemed committed to continuing to campaign.
Asked who he thought was to blame for the government shutdown, Shapiro pushed back, explaining he prefers to seek solutions not finger-pointing.
“I’m kind of less focused on who’s to blame and more focused on two things,” he said. “One, managing our state through this and No. 2, hopefully seeing the Democrats be successful in the U.S. Senate in driving home a conclusion that’s going to result in better health care for America.”
Shapiro seemingly updated the number of Pennsylvanians poised to lose safety net benefits, including food assistance and Medicaid, as a result of the Republican tax bill, which Trump signed into law in July.
He noted that 510,000 Pennsylvanians will lose Medicaid coverage under the new GOP law and 140,000 more are losing food assistance.
He projects another million could lose health care as a result of losing tax credits on premiums.
“I can’t speak for every governor, but I don’t think any state’s budget can backfill the billions of dollars in health care and food assistance that they’re cutting,” he said.
Pennsylvania is in the midst of a double-punch with the federal government shutdown and a state budget impasse that threatens schools and services. It’s been 15 weeks since the budget deadline.
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