Click here to watch the full interview.

PENNSYLVANIA – Yesterday, Governor Josh Shapiro joined Univision’s Esta Semana to discuss his commitment to electing Democrats up and down the ballot to put a check on Donald Trump and his reckless, cost-raising agenda that’s pushing a war of choice in Iran, making life harder for Pennsylvania families, and causing fear and chaos in our communities.

Here in the Commonwealth, Governor Shapiro is focused on bringing people together and delivering real results for all Pennsylvanians –– from creating jobs and putting money back in people’s pockets, to investing in law enforcement and community organizations to increase public safety, to protecting our freedoms and our democracy.

See below for key excerpts from the Governor’s appearance on Esta Semana, and watch the full interview here:

Question: Do you think we are close to some stability, de-escalation of the conflict [in Iran]?

Josh Shapiro: This is a war of choice by President Trump that I never supported. It has created havoc in the Middle East, and it’s creating chaos here at home. We’re seeing gas prices rise to over $4 a gallon because Donald Trump went into this war of choice without a clear plan. The Strait of Hormuz, where most of the oil flows through and sets the markets globally, is still stopped. The Iranians are now in charge of it even though, you know, for years it was a free access, free flow. I think what Donald Trump has done here is not only chaotic, but also really, really dangerous. And people here in Pennsylvania and all across the United States are now having to deal with the fact that he and his right hand man, Pete Hegseth, are basically like two eight-year-old children playing with toy soldiers. I don’t think they know what they’re doing, and unfortunately, the American people and people of Pennsylvania are worse off because of the President’s decision to go to war.

Question: How confident are you that Democrats will be able to hold their seats and reclaim ones that Republicans won from them in 2024?

Josh Shapiro: What we have here in Pennsylvania this November is obviously a race for governor — I’m running for re-election, and I’m incredibly grateful for the broad support that we have from Democrats, Republicans, Independents, including a whole lot of our Latino communities in Reading and Lancaster and Allentown and communities all across Pennsylvania. I’m proud to have earned that support. I’m going to work hard to continue that. In addition to my race for Governor, we also have four contested Congressional races, the kind of races that come down to one point on either side, and we have dozens of legislative races in what is a divided legislature. I’ve got a Senate led by Republicans and a State House led by Democrats. I think we’re poised for significant victories, and I’ll be investing in these candidates — working hard with them to try and help bring them across the finish line and see Democrats win these races. But I think we need here in Pennsylvania, really all across the country, even if you’re in a state that’s not a swing state like ours, I think we need a national referendum in these midterms on Donald Trump, on his chaos, his cruelty, his corruption. I think we need people showing up in record numbers to the polls to be able to show that they are against what he’s doing, the way he’s hurting small businesses, driving up costs, the way he’s making our communities less safe, the way he’s restricted our fundamental freedoms, his cruel immigration policies. This is what we need, voters to show up, for people to show up and voice their opposition to. I think we need that here in Pennsylvania, and I think we need it all across the country.

Question: What do you believe your party is doing right, and where do you think it is falling short with Latino voters?

Josh Shapiro: I spend a lot of time in our Latino communities. I’m grateful we got a large Puerto Rican population, a large Dominican, Mexican population, a really sizable population from South America. And, you know, the list goes on and on. I spend a lot of time there. And you know, we talk about issues that, quite frankly, are issues that are important all across Pennsylvania to lots of different people, making sure we bring down costs for them. I’m proud that as a Governor, I’ve cut taxes seven different times, for small businesses, for seniors, for families trying to afford childcare. Unfortunately, every time we put one dollar back in someone’s pocket, Donald Trump takes it away with higher tariffs and higher gas prices because of this war. But I hear a lot about that, and we’re working hard to reduce those costs. … And I hear loud and clear the importance of safety in a community. I made a pledge to hire two thousand more police officers and also to invest in violence prevention initiatives. And guess what? We’ve done that. We’ve hired those police. We’ve invested $880 million in violence prevention. And Ilya, violent crime is down 12% in Pennsylvania, fatal gun violence is down 42% in Pennsylvania. We’re seeing even higher numbers in large Latino communities. And so what I hear is they want good schools and safe communities. They want lower costs and job opportunities in their neighborhoods. And that’s exactly what we’re delivering here in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the federal government’s working against us here. We’ve got to continue to do that work. And to me, I think that is the most important thing I can do, our party can do, which is to focus on those three core areas.

Question: Assuming state agencies are required to cooperate with federal law, how do you protect immigrants from ICE raids?

Josh Shapiro: Unfortunately, the tactics that ICE are using across this country, most notably in Minneapolis and across Minnesota, undermine that basic trust, made people feel scared, took away the fundamental constitutional rights of law abiding citizens, stopping people and asking them for their papers just because they speak with an accent or their skin may be darker than mine. That’s just fundamentally against the law, and that eviscerates the kind of trust we need. So we’ve worked very hard with all of our law enforcement partners to try and keep those tactics out of Pennsylvania. To make clear to ICE that if they try and do that here in the Commonwealth, that they will be met with opposition. Opposition from me, opposition from state law enforcement and others. We will not tolerate that lawlessness. We will not tolerate people coming into our communities and eviscerating that trust that we work so hard to build up with our Latino communities and with others. And so far, I think we’ve made very clear to federal ICE officials, don’t bring that here, and they haven’t.

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