OXFORD, Ohio — Prolific podcaster Ben Shapiro may not be related to Gov. Josh Shapiro, but he still has his back, telling The Post in no uncertain terms that Kamala Harris “100%” passed over the Pennsylvania governor in her veepstakes because he’s Jewish.
Backstage at a Young Republicans event at Ohio’s Miami University last week, the 40-year-old pundit pulled no punches in his assessment of Democrats’ treatment of Shapiro.
“Kamala Harris was forced to not pick a Jew. I mean, it’s that simple,” Shapiro said. “She didn’t pick Josh Shapiro because Josh Shapiro is a Jew.”
He’s unpersuaded by those who say she picked Walz because he’s a superior choice.
“Her attempts to pretend that Tim Walz is some magical, unimaginable, unspeakably great candidate over the very popular governor of the one swing state she absolutely, 100% needs to win are failing,” he told The Post. “That’s not why. She didn’t pick him because he’s a pro-Israel Jew and that’s just unacceptable to her pro-Hamas base.”
Shapiro was in town to support Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in his challenge to Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and take back the GOP majority in Washington. The pair joined forces for a small speaking tour of battleground counties in Ohio following the event.
“I don’t know if any of you play video games, but Kamala Harris is an NPC,” Moreno said to the young crowd’s uproarious laughter. In gamer-speak, “NPC” refers to a “non-player character,” meaning a character controlled by the software and not the user — a nobody.
“She’s just completely removed from government, removed from power, removed from what’s really going on,” he added.
For his part, Shapiro says Republicans have a “pro-innvovation, pro-entrepreneurship, pro-dynamism” platform that he believes will win Ohio for both Moreno and Trump.
And he’s likely correct.
The RealClearPolitics polling average for Ohio has Trump 7.4 points ahead of the VP, but Brown has the edge — barely, not even 1 point — over Moreno in the Senate race average.
All speakers at the event pushed early voting — with one saying America should know “within 30 minutes” of polls closing who will control the majority in Congress.