Josh Shapiro in Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2020-2024
On Drugs:
After research I support legalizing recreational marijuana
Pennsylvania's top law enforcement officer is joining several other top state Democratic officials in backing the legalization of marijuana for recreational use by adults. Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that he changed his mind after months of
internal research and discussions with law enforcement colleagues. "Continuing to criminalize adult personal marijuana use is a waste of limited law enforcement resources, it disproportionately impacts our minority communities and it does not make us
safer. We must also expunge records of those with non-violent marijuana use convictions," Shapiro said. Shapiro's announcement comes two days after Gov. Tom Wolf made a similar announcement that he supports it. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, both Democrats, have long supported the idea, too. However, leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature have pushed back forcefully and said they oppose it.
Source: CBS News on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls
Sep 27, 2019
On Education:
$100 million in public money to private & religious schools
Palestine is not Shapiro's only progressive heresy. Just before October 7, he drew fire from teachers' unions and public education advocates for supporting a Republican-backed plan to funnel $100 million in public money to private and religious schools.
Although he was ultimately forced to back down under pressure, many are deeply and understandably skeptical of his commitment to public education
Source: The New Republic on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls
Jul 24, 2024
On Education:
Protect student borrowers from predatory lenders
Pennsylvanians are drowning in student debt. Some stats to prove it: Across the entire country, the debt load for college graduates totals $1.5 trillion. In Pennsylvania, 1.7 million borrowers have $58.7 billion in debt just from federal loans. That
equates to roughly $34,000 of debt per borrower statewide.Attorney General Shapiro has emerged as a local defender against burdensome student debt. Shapiro has long focused on student debt, promising as a candidate to "protect student borrowers from
predatory lenders and collection agencies." According to his own calculations, he's earned almost $50 million of debt relief for Pennsylvania students to date.
Among Shapiro's successes: joining a lawsuit against the private lender Student CU Connect
CUSO, which had partnered with the now-bankrupt for-profit college ITT Tech to issue what Shapiro and other attorneys general alleged were predatory loans. That settlement totaled $168 million--$5.3 million earmarked for students from Pennsylvania.
Source: Philly Magazine on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls
Oct 1, 2019
On Homeland Security:
Pro-Hamas college protests threaten student safety
In April, Shapiro's office baselessly claimed that a peaceful pro-Palestine encampment on the Penn campus threatened student safety. "If the universities in accordance with their policies can't guarantee the safety and security and well-being of the
students, then I think it is incumbent upon a local mayor or local town councilor to step in and enforce the law," Shapiro told Politico at the time. In May, he urged Penn to shut down the encampment completely. The university complied; Shapiro's office
said Penn "made the right decision."The New York Times profiled Shapiro with the headline "A Rising Democrat Leans Into the Campus Fight Over Antisemitism." In that piece, Shapiro made clear the low regard in which he holds pro-Palestine campus
activists. "If you had a group of white supremacists camped out and yelling racial slurs every day, that would be met with a different response than antisemites camped out, yelling antisemitic tropes," he said.
Source: The New Republic on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls
Jul 24, 2024
On Principles & Values:
Served as State Rep; practiced corporate law
After more than 30 years without a Democrat being elected to the position, Shapiro's win marks the second consecutive election a Democrat has captured the attorney general's office. Kathleen Kane in 2012 became the first Democrat attorney general
since it became an elected office. Shapiro, however, will be succeeding Bruce Beemer, who was nominated to the role in August after Kane resigned in the wake of her conviction on perjury and obstruction charges.Shapiro served in the state house from
2005-2012 representing the 153rd District. Now the state's next top prosecutor, Shapiro has never been a prosecutor himself. He has a law degree from Georgetown and practiced corporate law with Philadelphia law firm Stradley, Ronon, Stevens, and Young.
Shapiro's win gave Democrats a sweep of the state row offices on the ballot, with Eugene DePasquale being re-elected auditor general and Joe Torsella winning the state treasurer's office.
Source: State College News on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls
Nov 9, 2016
On War & Peace:
BDS (boycotting Israel) is rooted in antisemitism
As Pennsylvania attorney general, Shapiro championed the state's constitutionally dubious anti-BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) law against Ben & Jerry's after the ice cream maker refused to license its product for sale in Israeli settlements. "BDS
is rooted in antisemitism," Shapiro wrote in 2021, as he condemned a company named for its two Jewish American founders. "The stated goal of this amorphous movement is the removal of Jewish citizens from the region and I strongly oppose their efforts."
Source: The New Republic on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls
Jul 24, 2024
Page last updated: Nov 03, 2024