Report: The Palace Intrigue Behind Kamala Harris' VP Decision - and the Role John Fetterman Played

After news broke Tuesday morning that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris had chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate, reactions from Republicans were swift, with many pointing to how Walz had pulled the state far to the left with woke policies including his disastrous handling of the Antifa/BLM-led riots in the summer of 2020.

For example, GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) tweeted "It’s not surprising @KamalaHarris picked Tim Walz to be her running mate — he embodies the same disastrous economic, open-borders, and soft-on-crime policies Harris has inflicted on our country the last four years."

Emmer went on to note that, "Walz is an empty suit who has worked to turn Minnesota into Harris’ home state of California, and solidifies this ticket's full embrace of a radical, America-last agenda."

Others, however, were also quick to point out Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had been rumored to be on Harris' "finalist" shortlist, likely wasn't picked because his being Jewish would cause eruptions among the fanatical Hamas Caucus wing of the Democrat Party as the Israel-Hamas war rages on, with pressure being put on Harris by different groups to choose someone else.

While I have zero doubt about that being a major factor in why Harris opted to go with Walz instead of Shapiro, reports are swirling that concerns expressed by Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) about Shapiro played into Harris' decision-making and likely sunk his chances, as noted on Twitter/X by Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich:

Two sources confirm on background the deciding factor in the VP’s choice was what Sen Fetterman said publicly: concerns Shapiro’s his own personal ambitions would cause him to upstage/override Harris. The video Shapiro produced by Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker’s team solidified this sentiment on Friday.

Heinrich later updated the tweet to clarify about the release of the video:

UPDATE: Shapiro’s team was not aware Mayor Parker’s office had produced the video and there was no communication about its release between Parker and Shapiro’s teams ahead of time, a source familiar tells Fox.

As RedState documented at the time, the video shared Friday to the Twitter/X campaign account for Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker sparked confusion and led people to believe Harris had chosen Shapiro and that the announcement/video - which featured Shapiro - was prematurely posted. It was later clarified, however, that it was merely meant to show support for Harris to choose Shapiro:

Proud to be back with so many leaders from across our region supporting @KamalaHarris for President and @JoshShapiroPA for VP! We are One CITY, One REGION, and ONE Commonwealth United! @PADems @PhillyDems @Joanna4PA @PADemsChair @IBEW98 @RepHarris @PALaborers pic.twitter.com/Rh1ojbRjcr
— Cherelle Parker (@PeopleforParker) August 2, 2024

As for Fetterman's comments, advisers to the Senator reportedly told the Harris campaign behind the scenes that Fetterman had serious concerns about Shapiro's future ambitions and worried that he would try to upstage Harris:

Fetterman’s advisers suggested to Harris’ team that the senator believes that Shapiro is excessively focused on his own personal ambitions. His reservations about Shapiro reflect a long-running rivalry between the two ambitious Democrats, who have risen on parallel tracks in a politically crucial state.
[...]
During the behind-the-scenes conversations in recent days, Fetterman’s team expressed his “full-on, enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris,” one person familiar with the discussions said. In this person’s description, Fetterman’s advisers offered his “unvarnished assessment” of Shapiro “that is not about policy differences or other public baggage.”

Live look at John Fetterman?