Hi all,
In times like these, it’s easy to forget there are leaders in this country actually doing the work of, well, governing. That’s why my conversation with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro today stood out. He didn’t mince words. He delivered a direct, forceful takedown of Trump and JD Vance with the moral clarity this moment demands.
Shapiro has a plus 27 approval rating. In one of the most competitive states in the nation. With a divided legislature. With every incentive for gridlock. And he is producing measurable results. I cannot emphasize how stunning that is in these polarized times. That is not an accident.
When I brought him on, I wanted to talk about normalcy. Not complacency, not apathy, but the simple, almost radical idea that America deserves a government focused on the wellbeing of its people. Not another day of Trump’s tantrums. Not another crisis created for ratings. Not another public official trying to impress the Dear Leader by mimicking his cruelty.
Shapiro walked through what delivering looks like. He rebuilt I-95 in twelve days with union labor after a collapse that could have paralyzed the region for months. Pennsylvania now has the only growing economy in the Northeast. He cut taxes seven times. He expanded universal school breakfast. Test scores are up. Crime is down. Economic development is increasing. And he did all of it by working with Democrats and Republicans, something Trump and his enablers have neither the ability nor the interest to do.
He summed up the governing philosophy simply: people want good schools, safe communities, and economic opportunity. They want a government that works as hard as they do. That’s it.
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Then we contrasted that with what we saw just yesterday from JD Vance. That press conference horrified me, and I heard many of you share similar feelings. He showed up wearing eyeliner straight out of a wrestling promo, pacing around, screaming at the press, and lying about the murder of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota, who he referred to as “that woman.” The administration has been spreading vicious propaganda about her death, claiming she tried to run someone over with her car. The video evidence shows otherwise. Vance’s performance was gaslighting in service of a president demanding loyalty above truth, at the expense of a woman murdered under his watch.
I asked Shapiro to respond, and he didn’t hold back. He said Vance “has absolutely no core” and called him “profoundly and pathetically a weak human being.” He laid out how Vance’s behavior blocks truth, escalates tensions, and leaves communities less safe. And as a former attorney general, Shapiro explained exactly what responsible leadership requires in moments like these—thorough investigations, calm communication, and cooperation between agencies. The Trump–Vance administration refuses all of that because transparency is the enemy of their politics.
We also discussed the health care crisis unfolding in Pennsylvania after Trump let the Affordable Care Act subsidies expire. Shapiro estimated that between Medicaid cuts and lost ACA support, 510,000 Pennsylvanians are losing access to care. Hundreds of thousands more are now paying double for premiums. Parents choosing between feeding their children or paying for basic doctor visits. This, while Trump brags about all the money he’s going to give oil companies to encourage them to seize Venezuelan oil following the U.S. military’s invasion. So, yes. We have the money. But we see the priorities of this regime day after day.
As Shapiro said, no state has the budget capacity to replace what Trump ripped away. This crisis was manufactured by the regime for ideological reasons. And people are suffering because of it.
I asked him what he wants Pennsylvanians to know as he runs for reelection. He emphasized that there is more work to do, like raising the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour, passing the Fairness Act to protect LGBTQ residents, lowering costs further, holding energy companies accountable, continuing to reduce taxes, winning U.S. House seats, and securing a governing trifecta in the state legislature.
He encouraged viewers to get involved by texting “normal” to 32210 or going to JoshShapiro.org. And he ended by reiterating what real leadership looks like: calm, competent, steady, focused on results. Not an ego-driven cult of personality. Not chaos. Not cruelty masquerading as policy.
Trump’s poll numbers are collapsing because the country is exhausted. Americans are done with the drama. They want stability. They want competence. They want leaders who act like adults. Josh Shapiro is showing what that looks like. Donald Trump is showing what happens when a president spends every day performing and not governing. And his goons like JD Vance will forever live with the stench of their subservience to an individual who will forever be a stain on the American experiment.
This contrast will define 2026 and beyond. And the American people are watching.
