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A CNN panel burst into heated debate after a remark about why Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro to be her running mate.
Scott Jennings, a former staffer to President George W. Bush, ignited a frenzied back-and-forth between the other panelists when he made a shocking claim about the current vice president.
The conservative pundit claimed Harris rejected Josh Shapiro as her partner on the ballot due to supposed anti-semitism, on CNN.
Jennings criticized Harris for picking Walz and said he felt the Minnesota governor was not a strong choice.
“Kamala Harris absolutely bowed down to the radical left in her party by not picking Shapiro, who is Jewish,” the panelist said.
“There was a nasty campaign run against him.”
“She wound up choosing the person who was not Jewish and not as talented and not from the state that she has to win,” he also claimed.
Jennings then claimed the Democratic Party was “somewhat awash in antisemitism.”
The pundits then broke off into a heated debate about Walz’s leadership in Minnesota and abortion.
Contributor Ashley Allison hit back at Jennings for his comments.
“One of the big issues in this election is a woman’s right to choose and guess what? Kamala Harris got a choice to make, and she got to make the choice who was going to be her running mate,” she said.
“You don’t get to tell her who she has to run with,” Allison added.
Former advisor to Barack Obama David Axelrod then cut in to say he didn’t like to see anti-semitism exploited.
“Anti-Semitism is something that a lot of us have faced in different ways, and my family has faced,” he added.
Allison and Jennings then moved their heated debate onto the topic of January 6.
“You know what was radical, sending troops out to clear protesters out in front of the White House so Donald Trump could have a photo op,” Allison claimed.
Who is Governor Tim Walz?
Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate after weeks of chaos for the Democratic Party. Here's what to know about her pick.
Democratic politician Walz became the 41st governor of Minnesota in 2019.
The 60-year-old is a retired teacher and former non-commissioned officer in the Army National Guard.
Walz graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2001 and Chadron State College in 1989.
He has been married to his wife and fellow teacher Gwen Walz since 1994.
The pair share two children named Hope and Gus, who were conceived through IVF and fertility treatments, per the Star Tribune.
Hope graduated from a Montana college, while Gus attends public high school in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska, in 1964, and grew up in Valentine.
He is known for being punctual and graduated from Butte High School in Butte, Nebraska, in 1982.
In 1989, he taught English in China and learned to speak Mandarin.
Walz quit drinking alcohol after he got a DWI in Nebraska in 1995.
Troopers pulled him over for going 96 mph in a 55 mph zone, and a breathalyzer test found his blood alcohol concentration was .128, according to court records.
After he was arrested, he struck a plea deal to reduce the charges, which was a topic of conversation when he first ran for Congress in 2006.
When state troopers drive Walz in the state SUV as part of his governorship, he sits in the front passenger seat because he gets carsick in the back seats, per the Star Tribune.
When Walz was 19, his father died of lung cancer.
His mother, Darlene Rose, still lives in Nebraska and sometimes visits her son at the Capitol.
Jennings hit back at Allison with an attack on Walz during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“There should have been troops on the streets of Minneapolis immediately. It was burning to the ground,” the conservative pundit claimed.
Walz was just over a year into his tenure as governor in Minnesota when protests took over Minneapolis.
Walz has now come under fire for waiting to deploy the Minnesota National Guard.
At the time, Walz took responsibility for the delay and mobilized the National Guard three days after protests grew violent.
DEM UNITY
Even though Shapiro did not become Harris’ running mate, he showed out to support Walz during the ticket’s first joint campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Shapiro introduced Walz and Harris at the rally and promised to help the ticket get elected in November.
He also posted a statement after Walz was announced as Harris’ running mate explaining that his work was in Pennsylvania.
“Pennsylvanians elected me to a four-year term as their Governor, and my work here is far from finished – there is a lot more stuff I want to get done for our Commonwealth,” he wrote.
Shapiro added that Walz was an “exceptionally strong addition to the ticket who will help Kamala move our country forward.”
Walz and Harris are expected to continue campaigning in battleground states ahead of the Democratic National Convention.
Who is Josh Shapiro?
Josh Shapiro, 51, was a finalist in Kamala Harris' search for a running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
Shapiro has served as the 48th governor of Pennsylvania since 2023.
Raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, he attended the University of Rochester and later earned his law degree in 2002 while working on Capitol Hill.
The Democrat was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2004.
He’s had a close relationship with former President Barack Obama since he first backed Obama for president in 2007.
He was elected as Pennsylvania attorney general in 2016.
In 2018, Shapiro released a grand jury report on the Catholic Church’s scandal that found at least 1,000 children had been abused by the Roman Catholic church.
He first ran for governor in 2021 amidst his outspoken criticism of former President Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
He has endorsed Harris for president, along with the other 23 Democratic governors.
Shapiro held a joint rally with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to support the Harris campaign.
Shapiro, who is Jewish, has four kids with his wife, Lori, who was his high school sweetheart.
