PENNSYLVANIA – Today in a series of interviews, Governor Josh Shapiro reaffirmed his commitment to standing up and protecting Pennsylvanians’ freedoms and our democracy in the face of the Trump Administration’s chaos, cruelty, and corruption – from ICE’s compromised mission and threats to the rule of law, to Donald Trump and his allies’ continued attacks on our elections. 
As Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington continue to threaten Pennsylvanians’ fundamental freedoms, Governor Shapiro is protecting our Constitutional rights and standing up for the Commonwealth. 
See below for key excerpts from these conversations, and watch the full interviews here, here, and below:

The Contrarian: Gov. Josh Shapiro Won’t Be Intimidated

Question: What is your take on what needs to be done to reform or even do away with ICE. And what would Pennsylvania do if we see the kind of activity that we’ve seen in Chicago or Los Angeles or now in Minneapolis?

Josh Shapiro: This is a compromised mission in Minnesota. It is a failed mission. It is a mission that’s not only claimed at least two lives – Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti, but it has also undermined people’s constitutional rights and it has eviscerated the most important tool law enforcement has to keep the community safe, and that is trust.

…Typically a governor would prepare for a horrific storm that might claim lives, or god forbid a shooting or some violent incident in the community. We [in Pennsylvania] are now going through exercises, and have been for months of this idea of the federal government dispatching troops into our cities and towns, against my wishes, against the wishes of a local mayor. Stop and think about where we are in America today, that this is what we have to do to prepare, and I can tell you that we are prepared.

…We are organized at the local and state level, and we’re even talking to federal partners who understand, like us, that the best way to keep the community safe is by all working together in ways that protect people’s constitutional rights, not eviscerate them as to what we’re seeing in Minneapolis, so we’ll be prepared. I sure hope that the President doesn’t mess with Pennsylvania, doesn’t mess with Philly or Pittsburgh or Reading or Lancaster or anywhere else. And it’s a scary time in America, and I recognize I’ve got the responsibility to protect the residents of my state. I’m doing everything in my power to do that.

Question: Do you think ICE is reformable, or does it need to be, frankly, demolished and rebuilt in some other fashion?

Josh Shapiro: I think that the problem here is the direction that they are receiving from the President, from the Vice President, from [Stephen] Miller and [Kristi] Noem and others who are absolutely out of control, who have no respect for the rule of law, no respect for people’s constitutional rights. That’s why I said earlier, the mission is absolutely compromised. It needs to end, and there needs to be firm legal guardrails. You know, we assume in this country we really have, for the last two or nearly 50 years, we assume that we have honest, decent actors in positions of authority that are going to respect the rule of law and the Constitution. We now no longer have that, and so we have to legally build up guardrails around this president and his administration, so that they do not go to their worst impulses, which is what they are known to do, and instead defend people’s constitutional rights, not erode them.

Question: The Feds coming in, seizing ballots, the President announcing he wants to nationalize elections – this smacks of a preview of an effort to stymie the will of the voters in 2026 in November. First of all, what’s your view of it, putting on your old hat as an attorney general, and secondly, what is Pennsylvania prepared to do to prevent this?

Josh Shapiro: …We have had free and fair, safe and secure elections here in Pennsylvania. Period. The President of the United States has tried to overturn the will of the people here in our Commonwealth. In fact, back in 2020 he and his allies sued me, then the attorney general, 43 different times to try and throw out the votes of Pennsylvanians. He went 0 and 43, I went 43 and 0 and we had a free and fair, safe and secure election, and we will again. 

So we are going to stop this president from doing anything to nationalize our elections. They will remain a product of state-run, county-run operations, and I’ll continue to push back on the lawlessness of this president and respect the will of the people. 

…Donald Trump won here in 2016 and he won here in 2024 and he lost here in 2020 and throughout the 10 years or so that he’s been on the scene, in Pennsylvania, sometimes Democrats win, sometimes Republicans win. That’s because we’ve had free and fair, safe and secure elections, and we will again. Donald Trump is obviously trying to cheat and rig the system because he believes that’s the only way that he can win, and I think you will see a chorus of Democrats and Republicans stand up against that and preserve and protect our democracy.

Michael Smerconish: Shapiro Reflects: Pa. Gov. Shares the Man Behind the Office

Question: The concern that I have for mental well-being and brain health is a large part of my motivation in trying to get people, as you describe in the book, to reach across the aisle, to put aside partisan differences and to get along.

Josh Shapiro: It wasn’t until recent years where young people especially have been so open about mental health that it has spurred me into even greater action in this space.

…As governor, I’ve worked to appropriate $300 million for our schools to be able to hire mental health counselors. Bipartisan effort, and brought Republicans and Democrats together to do that, investing in adult mental health services. 

Being open about it: Michael, you and I, having a conversation like this probably wouldn’t have happened 15 or 20 or 30 years ago, but the fact that we’re having it now, hopefully someone will hear it and recognize it’s not taboo, there’s no stigma, there’s no negativity. You break your arm, you’re going to go to the doctor and get it fixed. If you’ve got a mental health issue, you should also be able to go to the doctor and get that fixed. And I think both should be treated the same. I worked really hard to do that as governor, and throughout my career.

 

###