Governor Josh Shapiro of Abington Township was featured today in an NBC News’ “Meet the Press” segment to discuss the recent uptick of politically motivated violence.
“I think we’re at an inflection point as a nation, and I think we can go in a number of different ways. I hope we go the direction of healing, of bringing people together, of trying to find our commonalities, not just focus on our differences,” he said. “We’ve got to find our better angels. We’ve got to universally condemn political violence, no matter where it is — whether it’s against Charlie Kirk or someone else — it is not okay, and we all have to work together to condemn it.”
Shapiro said “the answer to debate and speech that you don’t like is not violence or taking someone’s life. It’s more speech, it’s more debate, it’s more engagement, and that’s what we need more of in our communities.”
“We’re allowed to disagree in this country. In fact, disagreements, when done constructively, is what helps perfect our union,” he continued. “In a society where we have less freedom — which is what the President is doing, restricting one’s ability to speak, which is enshrined in the First Amendment, the First Amendment of our Constitution — we are all less safe. We are all less free.”
The governor also responded to a question regarding former presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ memoir which was published in The Washington Post last week. Harris wrote that she worried “that he [Shapiro] would be unable to settle for a role as number two and that it would wear on our partnership.”
Shapiro said he hadn’t read the book and that last year he “was focused on working my tail off to deny Donald Trump a second term.”
During a speech to the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh on September 16, Shapiro addressed political violence.
“As I have made clear each and every time, this type of violence has no place in our society, regardless of what motivates it or who pulls the trigger, who throws the Molotov cocktail or who wields the weapon,” Shapiro said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s coming from one side or from the other, directed at one party or another, one person or another, it is all wrong, and it makes us all less safe.”
You can watch the full NBC News interview below:
In related news, the Pennsylvania Republican Party leaders endorsed state Treasurer Stacy Garrity to challenge Shapiro in the 2026 gubernatorial election, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“I know what it means to serve,” Garrity said in her acceptance speech during a meeting on Saturday. “I know what it means to solve the tough problems impacting the lives of Pennsylvania families. So my message to families all across our great commonwealth: Help is on the way.”
Garrity, 61, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former corporate executive, announced her intention to seek the Republican nomination in August. If elected, she would be the first female governor of Pennsylvania.
Screengrab: NBC News