Gov. Shapiro, Republican surrogates: Vote ’country over party’

LEHMAN TWP. — Standing in front of three longtime Republicans on Sunday afternoon, Gov. Josh Shapiro said the 2024 Presidential election comes down to country over party.

Shapiro was joined by former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman to headline for a “New Way Forward Unity Rally” at a farm in Lehman Township.

With just nine days until Election Day, the speakers underscored why Republican and Independent voters across Pennsylvania are putting country over party and supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and her “New Way Forward,” rejecting her Republican opponent, former president Donald Trump and his “extreme Project 2025 agenda” that they said would give him unprecedented and unchecked power to raise costs for Pennsylvania families and ban abortion nationwide.

“If you told me that I would be standing here in beautiful Luzerne County and that I would be the only Democrat on the stage at a Harris-Walz rally,” Shapiro said, drawing loud applause and laughter from the crowd of more than 300 supporters. “These three heroes, these three leaders are here because they believe in putting country over party.”

Shapiro said that the Harris-Walz campaign has put together “a coalition of Americans” who are working together to elect Harris and defeat Trump.

“Kamala Harris is tough as nails,” Shapiro said, noting he has known her for more than 20 years. “She is battle-tested and she is ready to lead our nation.”

Shapiro said the 2024 campaign has taken on a biblical look — “love thy neighbor, treat others as you would want to be treated.” Shapiro said Harris will always take that approach.

“Donald Trump can’t pass that test,” Shapiro said. “You have seen what he has done to these three patriots on stage with me. We don’t want a president who talks us down all the time.”

Shapiro told the crowd that the country’s economy is strong, the stock market is soaring and people are working.

“The names of Harris and Trump are on the ballot, but democracy is what is at stake,” Shapiro said. “And that means you are all on the ballot.”

Shapiro and the three Republican surrogates urged the crowd to be proud that they are supporting Harris.

“Wear your T-shirts, put those signs in your yard,” he said. “This election will decide our future. Middle class Americans are the strength of this country, don’t worry about polls — work harder and tell your family members, your neighbors what’s at stake. Nobody can stay at home on their couch and let this election go by.”

Shapiro said Luzerne County is critical to bringing a Democratic victory in Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes.

“We want Democrats, Republicans, Independents to come out and vote for Harris and Walz,” Shapiro said.

To that point, Vice President Harris made clear that there is space in her campaign for Republicans and Independents who share in her vision to lower taxes on working families, defend reproductive freedom, and safeguard democracy at home and abroad.

With 50 coordinated field offices, including 16 in counties — such as Luzerne — that Trump won by double digits in 2020, the Harris-Walz campaign and Pennsylvania Democrats are committed to reaching those voters and making inroads in rural and other historically-conservative regions.

Surrogates show their support

Kinzinger also received a strong reaction from the crowd when he began by calling Trump “the orange God king.” Kinzinger, a veteran of the Iraq War, singled out the veterans in the crowd, thanking them for their service. He especially addressed the Vietnam veterans, who he said never got the welcome home celebration that they deserved.

“I think back about what it means to defend democracy,” Kinzinger said. “I remember veterans of all wars — their sacrifice, their bravery. Veterans always defended our country to defeat tyranny. In this election, we all have to rise up and defeat tyranny and in victory, we will never again have to worry about what Donald Trump might do. Donald Trump is the whiniest, most bellyaching candidate in history. There is nothing masculine or manly about him.”

Duncan said he was “in the room” when Trump tried to “steal the 2020 election.” He said he could not stand on the sidelines and not do all he can to defeat Trump.

“What would I tell my kids?” Duncan said. “Donald Trump is not a Republican — he stole our Republican party and took it straight into the gutter. I’m a Republican, but I am an American first. This is my 9-1-1 call to the country. Donald Trump is a cross between a mob boss and a clown. He should never be president again.”

Duncan said Harris will help the middle class by helping first-time homeowners, by helping small businesses grow, and by helping families through affordable child care.

“Kamala Harris will work from the middle,” he said. “Donald Trump, well, he’s a liar.”

Gov. Whitman said she has known Trump a long time and she will not support him.

“Donald Trump calls himself a businessman,” she said. “Well, he filed for bankruptcy twice. And how does a casino lose money? Donald Trump owned two that lost money. And read Trump’s Project 2025. You will see the danger that would bring. And his running mate, J.D. Vance wrote the introduction to Project 2025.”

Whitman said Trump doesn’t represent the Republican Party.

“So we are here to ask folks who are like-minded like us, to vote country over party,” Whitman said. “We want them to know that it’s OK to vote for a Democrat this year.”

Kinzinger said Pennsylvania is the most important state in the election. Shapiro called Pennsylvania “the swingiest swing state.”

“We all know people who don’t want to vote for Trump,” Kinzinger said. “Politics can become an identity. It’s a difficult decision. That’s why we want to get our message out to fellow Republicans by telling them the truth about Trump.”

Kinzinger talked about the “whisper caucus” — Republicans who come up to him and whisper in his ear that they agree with him and that they are voting for Harris. He said politics in 2024 has become “a blood sport.”

“There are so many people who are afraid to let people know who they will vote for,” he said. “They’re not vocal, but they are voting for Kamala Harris.”