Josh Shapiro's New Memoir Casts Kamala Harris In 'Veep' Remake

Gavin Newsom is probably pre-ordering multiple copies.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris cast some harsh shade on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in her memoir 107 Days. Presenting him as an ambitious, lean and hungry Cassius type, Harris “had a nagging concern that [Shapiro] would be unable to settle for a role as number two and that it would wear on our partnership.”

Shapiro wasn’t flattered by Harris’s depiction of him. His spokesperson told Axios reporter Alex Thompson, “It’s simply ridiculous to suggest that Governor Shapiro was focused on anything other than defeating Donald Trump and protecting Pennsylvania from the chaos we are living through now.”

That was positively civil compared to Shapiro’s own heated remarks in an Atlantic interview from December: “She wrote that in her book?” he said. “That’s complete and utter bullshit. I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies.”

Now Shapiro has his own memoir coming out — Where We Keep the Light: Stories from a Life of Service, which takes 107 days to say out loud — and he’s hurling some zingers at Harris. His account of the Harris campaign’s vetting process for vice president plays out like a lost episode of Veep. Shapiro claims that Harris appeared to hate being vice president, which might have colored her view of the role. I’m reminded of Selina Meyer’s epic rant in Veep’s series finale when she justifies making a patsy she loathes her running mate: “Being vice president is like being declawed, defanged, neutered, ball-gagged and sealed in an abandoned coal mine under two miles of human shit. It’s a fate worse than death. Besides, I’m not gonna die, ’cause I’ve got the heart and the twat of a high school cheerleader who’s only done anal!” (Watch below.)

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More Dish From That Kamala Harris Book

Shapiro writes, “She noted that her chief of staff would be giving me my directions, lamented that the Vice President didn’t have a private bathroom in their office and how difficult it was for her at times not to have a voice in decision making.”

Harris felt marginalized in the Biden White House, but she planned to have her VP report to her Leo McGarry (that’s the first of this piece’s two West Wing references). If you watched the show, you’d know that President Bartlet’s loyal chief of staff functions like the co-president, while the actual vice president twists in the wind. (For what it’s worth, I don’t think JD Vance gets his marching orders from Susie Wiles.)

I’ve seen people treat Harris’s bathroom complaint as evidence that she’s an entitled diva, but I agree with Pod Save America’s Dan Pfeiffer, who posted on social media, “I know it seems dumb, but it does suck that the VP has to use the bathroom in the hallway where large groups of staff gather for their next meeting. It makes for all kinds of awkward encounters.”

The vice president should have their own bathroom. Any lunch-time indiscretions should remain private. It’s not like Harris demanded a fresh toilet seat whenever she goes to the bathroom.

Shapiro admits that he wanted a more collaborative relationship with Harris — sort of like what Harris supporters insisted that she enjoyed with Joe Biden (she didn’t).

“If we had door A and door B as options, and she was for door A and I was for door B, I just wanted to make sure that I could make the case for door B, and if I didn’t convince her, then I’d run right through a brick wall to support her decision,” Shapiro writes. “She was crystal clear that that was not what she was looking for.”

This admittedly doesn’t cast Harris in the best light. In the idealized liberal fantasyland that was The West Wing, President-Elect Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) asks his defeated Republican opponent Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) to serve as Secretary of State. The way he describes their potential working relationship is almost identical to what Shapiro had in mind (maybe he’s a fan of the show).

VINICK: And when we disagree?

SANTOS: I'd give you the time you need to set me straight. And then I’d expect you to go out there and sell whatever decision I’ve made.

Shapiro admits he had reservations about the role from the start, and he was offended at times by the Harris team’s line of questioning.

“It nagged at me that their questions weren’t really about substance. Rather they were questioning my ideology, my approach, my world view.” That is all very relevant and substantive. Shapiro appears to have confused the vetting process with a Regency-era gala ball. Jane Austen might’ve written, “The upstart Miss Harris asked such impertinent questions to Mr. Shapiro, who left their interview most offended!”

Shapiro claims that Harris’s team was overly focused on his views on Israel — even asking at one point if he had ever been an agent of the Israeli government. This wasn’t just something the team thoughtlessly asked the Jewish candidate. Shapiro himself has described himself as “a past volunteer in the Israeli army.” It’s reasonable and not unusual line of questioning for a presidential running mate. Tim Walz was also asked about foreign ties during his vetting process. Still, Shapiro’s version of events led to claims that the Harris campaign was guilty of “classic anti-semitism,” which were all over the press this week.

If Shapiro runs for president, it’s likely he’ll receive a good deal of criticism about his hardline position on Israel. (When Harris asked Shapiro if he’d consider apologizing for remarks he’d made about pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses, he says he “flatly” refused to do so.) My concern was that too much of this criticism would steer head on into anti-semitism. However, I’m also worried that Shapiro might attempt to paint even good-faith criticism as anti-semitic. Polls show that Americans’ support for Israel has dramatically declined, and roughly six in 10 Democrats believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians, which is twice the number who said the same in 2023. Unwavering support for Israel is not a mainstream position with the Democratic primary electorate, but Shapiro could deflect this by arguing that the Democratic Party overall has refused to stand up to rising anti-semitism within its own ranks. Harris was too weak to do so, but he’s not.

Shapiro’s account of the vetting process isn’t simply defensive. His portrait of Harris is like a political Picasso. He obviously doesn’t admire her or consider her an impressive leader, despite their differences. When he decided to withdraw from consideration for the VP slot, he writes that Harris’s people told him that “the VP would not handle bad news well and that I shouldn’t push.”

There’s also this petty mess that is classic Veep: Shapiro claims that former White House counsel Dana Remus, who’d already pissed him off with all the Israel secret agent questions, later suggested that he was too broke ass for the job.

“She said that she knew we didn’t have a lot of money, and that Lori was going to have to get all new clothes and pay for people to do her hair and makeup.” Ouch.

It’s true that Josh and Lori Shapiro aren’t wealthy. In fact, when Shapiro called his wife to discuss the VP possibility, she said bluntly, “I am in a Canadian Walmart right now. Maybe not the ideal time for this conversation.” She added, “I don’t think we are ready to do this. It’s not the right time for our family. And it’s not on our terms.”

I didn’t think the vice president and their spouse were like the Royal Family. After all, Joe Biden called himself the “poorest man in Congress” when he was vice president. This seems needlessly mean-spirited. Shapiro says Remus’s comment left him slack-jawed, and I admit I wouldn’t want to work for anyone who suggested my wife needed all new clothes and professional intervention for her hair and face. (Reportedly, Shapiro identifying Remus by name “infuriated some in the orbit of former President Barack Obama, with whom Remus is close, having worked for him both in the White House and when he was setting up his post-presidency.”)

This memoir is set to release on January 27, but it has already triggered fierce backlash from Harris supporters, which I assume Shapiro knew would happen. It’s an interesting strategy. He hasn’t just distanced himself from the Biden/Harris administration. He’s thrown a grenade at any potential 2028 Harris candidacy.

I can’t help thinking about how failed 2024 presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley beat up on each other rather than concentrating on Donald Trump. Haley mostly held her fire until it was far too late. Perhaps Shapiro views Harris as the Trump-like candidate he needs to take out quickly — which Haley and DeSantis failed to do against the actual Trump, but although Harris was the former nominee, that’s all she has in common with Trump. I tend to think the true “Trump-like candidate” in this scenario is Gavin Newsom, who would benefit the most from a Shapiro and Harris feud. They sling mud at each other while Newsom remains unscathed. I’m sure he’ll enjoy Shapiro’s memoir. He might even invite him onto his podcast.