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Consider This from NPR

Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro on resisting Trump

27 Jan 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What happened during the arson attack on Governor Shapiro's residence?

0.031 - 12.487 Scott Detrow

Last spring, in the middle of the night, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro woke up to knocking and yelling. The governor's residence was on fire, a state trooper told him. The Shapiros had to get out of the house and fast, as ABC News reported.

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12.787 - 21.799 Unknown

An arrest after what police called an act of arson at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence, where he and his family had gathered to celebrate the first night of Passover.

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22.019 - 26.825 Scott Detrow

No one was harmed, but the attack left Shapiro feeling first shaken and then resolute.

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27.125 - 40.032 Josh Shapiro

I wanted people to know that I was not afraid. I wanted people to know that nothing was going to deter me from doing my job as governor and nothing would deter me from practicing my faith.

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Chapter 2: How does Shapiro's faith influence his role as governor?

40.694 - 60.848 Josh Shapiro

It was important for me to say that because Political violence, while targeted at one particular individual, is designed to stoke fear in a broader community. And I wanted them to see that even though we wouldn't be able to return to the governor's residence for that Seder, we were still going to do a second Seder.

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61.048 - 64.513 Scott Detrow

Shapiro was one of the most prominent Jewish office holders in the U.S.,

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64.561 - 68.547 Josh Shapiro

You know, my faith is just interwoven in everything I do.

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68.787 - 80.024 Scott Detrow

In his new memoir, Where We Keep the Light, Shapiro explores his faith as well as his career in politics, one that has taken him from state representative to Pennsylvania attorney general during President Trump's first term in the White House.

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80.044 - 84.972 Josh Shapiro

If someone's going to mess with a Pennsylvanian, they're going to have to go through me. And that includes the president of the United States.

85.392 - 91.902 Scott Detrow

Now, as governor, Shapiro faces new challenges coming from the Trump administration, like potential ICE deployments.

92.033 - 112.704 Josh Shapiro

When Donald Trump deploys, whether it's the National Guard or ICE, into a community where a mayor or governor does not want them there, he immediately erodes the trust that exists in a community. And instead of making communities safer, which is what they claim they want to do, they actually create danger in a community.

113.244 - 114.987 Scott Detrow

And this year's midterm elections.

115 - 134.072 Josh Shapiro

We know that this president has lied about our elections. We know that they are going to try and undermine the midterms again with their conspiracy theories and with their bogus lawsuits. We will be prepared again. We are already seeing them try to undermine the rule of law and undermine our elections.

Chapter 3: What challenges is Pennsylvania facing from the Trump administration?

419.674 - 438.134 Josh Shapiro

We are already seeing them try to undermine the rule of law and undermine our elections. Let me explain. They asked recently, demanded, I should say recently, all of the private voter information for Pennsylvanians, about 9 million or so registered Pennsylvania voters.

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438.735 - 456.74 Josh Shapiro

And by the way, not just Scott Detrow and what party you're registered for and how many times you voted, that's publicly available, but all of Scott's private information that the state has a legal responsibility to protect. We refuse to turn that over because I believe they're going to use it for nefarious purposes.

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457.381 - 476.515 Josh Shapiro

And we were sued by the Department of Justice to compel us to provide that information. We still haven't. We're going to continue to battle in court to protect the private information of the citizens of Pennsylvania. That's just one example of how I believe they're preparing to ramp up to try and undermine the midterms. And I think these midterms are incredibly important.

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477.156 - 493.982 Josh Shapiro

They're important to you. You're on the ballot. I am on the ballot. But I think it is broader than me. And look, I hope the good people of Pennsylvania return me to this position, which I just feel honored to serve them in. But I think right now you have people who, and I'm sure you've heard this too, who

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493.962 - 518.799 Josh Shapiro

who can't, I mean this with the most respect, who can't handle the news, who just wanna shut it off and they wanna pull the covers over and they wanna retreat. And what I would say to them is now is a time to engage, not to retreat. And the best way we can engage is by using our power. Sometimes our power is engaging with people online. But for all of us, the power we have is the power to vote.

518.819 - 542.633 Josh Shapiro

And so whether you're privileged to live in a swing state like Pennsylvania or be in one of these swing districts, of which we've got four of them here in our Commonwealth, or even if you're in one of these 80-20 districts, show up and vote in record numbers. And that will send a message that we do not accept the chaos and the cruelty and the corruption of this administration.

542.731 - 551.582 Scott Detrow

You're running for governor right now. You're running for reelection. This is the type of book that people write when they're thinking about running for president in two years. How are you thinking about 2028 at this moment in time?

552.783 - 579.223 Josh Shapiro

I wrote this book because I think our politics are not meeting the moment or the needs of the people that a whole bunch of politicians represent. What do I mean by that? I travel across this commonwealth and more and more across the country, and I just see goodness. I see people who are bringing light in their communities every single day, solving problems.

579.263 - 594.932 Josh Shapiro

I write about a number of the people in this book. And I wrote this book, which of course was interrupted in many ways by the arson attack, where we saw not only extreme darkness, but extraordinary light. Yeah. And I wrote this book to speak to that.

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