Click here to watch the full interview

PENNSYLVANIA – Today, Governor Josh Shapiro joined CNN’s State of the Union to discuss the stakes of these midterms and the work he is doing to keep showing up, listening, and getting stuff done for Pennsylvanians. In the face of Donald Trump’s disastrous, cost-raising agenda hurting Pennsylvania’s families, seniors, and small businesses, Governor Shapiro continues to bring people together to move the Commonwealth forward.

Governor Shapiro also highlighted the profound and pathetic weakness of Vivek Ramaswamy, JD Vance, and Donald Trump as they continue dragging our politics to despicable new lows.

The Governor has been clear that these midterm elections will be a referendum on the chaos, cruelty, and corruption of Trump and his allies — from skyrocketing gas and grocery prices to the war of choice in Iran and the reckless tariffs. Governor Shapiro is committed to standing up and fighting for Pennsylvanians, and he’s out on the campaign trail for the final stretch until Election Day to underscore just that.

See below for key excerpts from the Governor’s interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, and watch here:

On Having Pennsylvanians’ Backs: 

“I know it’s hard to be a Democrat in these parts, and it’s important that they know I got their backs, and I so appreciate that they have mine. But I’m here today though, not just to talk to Democrats, but a whole lot of Republicans who you know may have made a different choice than I did in the last few presidential elections, but who are also hurting, who are experiencing the same pain as all Pennsylvanians because of Trump’s chaos and cruelty and corruption, the war in Iran, the tariffs, which has added about $3,100 in costs to the average Pennsylvania family. I think a lot of them are reassessing our politics today, and I want them to know that they’ve got a governor who’s got their backs.”

On the Weakness of Vivek Ramaswamy and JD Vance: 

“I’ve prosecuted dozens of people for sexual abuse, and the cases where they are familial – a parent, a step parent — abusing their own child, are maybe the ones that upset me the most. The ones that would keep me up at night as we were going through those cases. Those are so unbelievably painful. The idea that a guy who wants to run for governor would weaponize them, that the vice president of the United States, who does this phony preacher nonsense about morality every day, would double down and say not only is it an acceptable ad, keep running it, and admonish Republicans like Mike DeWine, who actually had the courage to speak out and call it. I think it just speaks to how you know profoundly and pathetically weak of a human being, J.D. Vance is, and it speaks to the character, frankly, lack thereof of Ramaswamy to attack a victim like that, to attack a victim and take the side of the perpetrator, the enabler of that abuse. It’s disgusting, and you know what I’m hearing more and more from Republicans, along with Democrats and Independents, is they’re just tired. They’re tired of the politics that Trump and Vance practice. And remember, Ramaswamy, he really is just a product of that Trump-Vance politics of the lowest common denominator. I think you’re going to see Americans of all stripes, Democrat and Republican, come out in states all across our country and reject it.”

On Delivering Results for Pennsylvanians:

“It’s time to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania. Republicans have blocked that for the last 15 years. It’s one of the reasons I’m working so hard to flip our state Senate for the first time since 1992. We’ve got to continue to work hard to create more jobs, particularly in our agriculture sector. I want to make sure we codify abortion rights in our state constitution, since the federal government has taken it away. And I want to make sure that we do something really big and bold on housing. I’ve got a big plan to be able to create, to build more housing here in the Commonwealth and repair our aging housing fleet.”

On Protecting our Free and Fair Elections: 

“I would remind you Dana, in 2020, when Donald Trump tried to overturn the election here in Pennsylvania, I was the attorney general. He sued me 43 times, and he made up all kinds of false claims, and he lost every one of those cases, and I won every single one of them, and we had a free and fair, safe and secure election. We are prepared in Pennsylvania to once again respect the will of the people. They’re going to choose sometimes Republicans. They are going to choose sometimes Democrats. We’re going to respect the will of the people, and we will not let the federal government interfere with one’s ability to vote. When they tried to take away the ability of Pennsylvanians to vote by mail recently, I went to court and won and protected that right. So whether you vote by mail or you vote in person on November 3, we’re going to protect your access to the ballot box.”

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