Click here to watch the full interview.

PENNSYLVANIA – Yesterday, Governor Josh Shapiro joined La Mega’s El Relajo de la Mañana to discuss his reelection campaign, bringing people together to keep getting stuff done, and delivering results for the people of Pennsylvania.

Governor Shapiro underscored his commitment to electing Democrats up and down the ballot this November, including electing Bob Brooks to be the next Congressman from PA’s 7th District and defeating Ryan Mackenzie. While Mackenzie has been selling Pennsylvanians out – raising costs, cutting healthcare, and choosing blind loyalty to Donald Trump over the people of the Lehigh Valley – Governor Shapiro and Bob Brooks are fighting for Pennsylvania families and will be working together to win across the district.

See below for key excerpts from the Governor’s appearance on El Relajo de la Mañana, and watch the full interview here:

Question: Why was it important for you to get involved and endorse a candidate [in PA-07]?

Josh Shapiro: This was personal to me, and I’ll explain why. I’ve known Bob Brooks for many years. He’s been a partner of mine in passing legislation to protect our firefighters. I’ve always been a supporter of our firefighters, and to be honest with you, after what my family and I went through a year ago at the Governor’s residence where we were attacked, an arsonist broke in to the home and tried to kill us, and I had that image of me and my family, our dogs rushing out of the house while firefighters rushed in. It became even more personal, and the reason why I stepped up to support Bob is because I believe in him, and I want to be really clear it’s not a negative on anyone else. I would never take a shot at any of the other candidates running, and I’ve expressed only affirmative reasons why I’m for Bob. I know we may be on different sides of this, but I think we can both agree that whoever emerges from the primary, we’re gonna be 100% in for them, and they have to beat Ryan Mackenzie, who I think has been part of the failures of Washington DC. He’s hurt this district, and he’s making it harder for people to be able to afford, to get ahead, harder for our business people, harder on our families. […]

Question: We have this thing where the federal government now wants to buy these warehouses for ICE and you’ve been very outspoken about it. Where are we with that? What are you doing about that?

Josh Shapiro: ICE, in the dark of night, in secret, went and bought these two massive warehouses. … They want to convert them into holding about 9,000 people, like human beings! They want them to live there. I don’t want that here in Pennsylvania. They purchased a facility in Berks, and they purchased a facility in Schuylkill County. I don’t want that. And so I’ve made very clear that Kristi Noem, who, at least for right now, is the Secretary of Homeland, she’ll be out next week, that we don’t want that in Pennsylvania. And if you’re going to try and set that up in Pennsylvania, I’m going to use my power as Governor to try to stop it. And so just a couple days ago, we sent further, you know, in writing for the guidance to the federal government that if you want to be here, you need to get this permit, this permit, this permit, etc. And based on our initial assessment, it seems like an impossibility for you to get those permits…They’re wasting, by the way, billions of dollars across this country on these really cruel approaches to immigration. We obviously need to have strong immigration rules in this country the way they’re doing it is just cruel. It’s chaotic, and I think it’s ripping apart the communities. So we made clear that, you know, in order to operate here, you need permits. […]

Question: As a Governor, is there anything you can do [in regards to the cost of gas]?

Josh Shapiro: The only reason why those prices went up is because the war erupted, started by Donald Trump, and Donald Trump owns. There’s not a whole lot a Governor can do here that really is a federal policy. … And then let’s keep going, right? You go to the grocery store, the price of food costs more, and our farmers will tell you this, because of the tariffs, the tariffs have jacked up costs on our farmers significantly. Our farmers, for example, are paying 40% more for the fertilizer they need to operate their farm, just one example. So you’re seeing the price of food go up largely due to this tariff. You go to one of the craft breweries here in Allentown, the price of the can went up dramatically. The price of the hops went up really significantly, all because of tax. Again, I can’t stop that. Donald Trump started taxing now, here’s what we can do. As your governor, I’ve cut taxes seven times. … So whether they’re trying to afford childcare, whether you’re working just a little bit as a small business owner, we’ve cut taxes. The problem is people won’t feel it as much because, as your wife pointed out, they’re paying more for gas because of Donald Trump. They’re paying more for food because of Donald Trump. And so it is a struggle and a challenge, given the federal policies, but we’re doing what we can here in the state to put more money in people’s pockets.

Question:Donald Trump promised that he was going to put out a bailout for $12 billion with the tariffs of profits. Now the Supreme Court decided that, no, you’re not allowed to do the tariffs. So I’m assuming that that $12 billion ain’t coming. What is Pennsylvania doing for those farmers?

Josh Shapiro: So what Donald Trump did was pushed a button and started a trade war with these tariffs, lied and said they’re working great, and then turned around to the farmers and said, I know you’re being hurt by this, so I’ll give you billions of dollars to make you whole. Like, he acknowledged that he did it. He said the quiet part out loud…And now he doesn’t have it. I mean, so he pocketed, we think on average, $1,500 or so dollars per Pennsylvania in increased tariff costs. That’s when you go to groceries, buy something on Amazon, or whatever. You pay more for all that. That’s Donald Trump, who did that to you.

###