The national press is scrambling to provide alternative reasons why Kamala Harris passed over Josh Shapiro for Tim Walz as her running mate. Some are even blaming it on Donald Trump, claiming he was behind a whisper campaign to keep the Pennsylvania governor off the ticket. 

Of course, we all know the real reason. You don't pass over a very popular, extremely well-spoken governor of a must-win swing state for an awkward radical from Minnesota because you genuinely think Walz is the better candidate. This was about one thing: Shapiro being Jewish. 

SEE: Walz Sidelining Shapiro Is Proof the Antisemites Have Won

When it became clear that Harris was favoring Shapiro (and I still think he was the pick at one point), a relentless campaign from the far left commenced. Echoed in the press, it suggested that he was simply unacceptable to the progressive wing of the party. That wasn't because he doesn't have a fairly left-wing record (he does). Rather, it was about appeasing Hamas supporters in the Democratic Party and concerns Shapiro would cost votes in Michigan and Wisconsin. 

Some Democrats are smart enough to nibble at the edges. Others are just dumb enough to say the quiet part out loud. That happened on CNN, and it left Jake Tapper squirming as he desperately tried to redirect his co-hosts to no avail. 

PHILLIPS: And I think ultimately, Shapiro, I think fit is important, but, you know, I also think when you look at the principle of "do no harm," maybe they did say in a state like Minnesota, do we want to, there were 100,000 uncommitted voters who came out about the Gaza war, do we want to antagonize those voters? Those are part of the question as well. 

TAPPER: Can I just say...

CORNISH: Tim Walz also spoke conciliatory towards those people. He said, look, that uncommitted vote is significant, and those people should be heard. So having that kind of response, I think, is probably more of an open door to the parts of the party that have been very frustrated with the Democrats. 

At that point in the segment, Tapper is scrambling to try to interject to stop Phillips and Cornish from saying what they are saying, which is essentially admitting that Shapiro was passed over because he didn't coddle radical antisemites in Minnesota. Eventually, he gets his chance.

TAPPER: So, but, just to, just to, one point on the Gaza war. Shapiro has the same position on Israel that Gov. Walz, that Sen. Kelly has. He's actually been more critical of Netanyahu than the other two, but, he is Jewish.

CORNISH: He's also the face of the crackdown on the protests, right? He spoke very vehemently about those protests as being antisemitic. 

TAPPER: Not all of them. The ones that were antisemitic he criticized for being antisemitic.

CORNISH: Of course, but he was out front on the issue. So, I'm wondering if that's the kind of thing, again, for the activist wing of the party, was a slap in the face. 

What's so great about that part of the exchange is that Tapper tees it up for Cornish. He gave her an out to clarify her point so it didn't sound so obvious that Shapiro was sidelined for being Jewish. Instead, she just doubled down by bringing up the campus protests, which were antisemitic. Tapper again jumps in to provide another yet another out, and Cornish again goes back to the well, admitting that the "activist wing" of the Democratic party are antisemites who can't abide anyone criticizing actual antisemitism.

It's as astonishing as it is pathetic. Watching Tapper wink and nod at his co-hosts, all but begging them to be just a little bit less antisemitic on-air is the current state of the press.