President Donald Trump took a swipe at Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) during a campaign appearance Wednesday, dismissing the Democrat as someone who “doesn’t have what it takes” while praising his Republican rival, Stacy Garrity.
The remark was brief, but it landed at a moment when Shapiro’s once nearly universal reputation as one of the Democratic Party’s brightest rising stars appears to be dimming.
Trump called Shapiro “totally overrated” while speaking at the Pennsylvania Defense & Innovation Summit hosted by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) at the U.S. Army War College.
“I’m telling you, this guy Shapiro is totally overrated,” Trump said. “I watched him the other night doing a speech, and he does not have what it takes.
“Maybe he’ll win — and he’s expected to win — but I hear things about Stacy, and I’m hearing some poll numbers that are very good.”
Shapiro remains the clear favorite for reelection and continues to lead Garrity in public polling. But recent surveys suggest his political standing is no longer quite as dominant as it was a year ago, while his support among progressives has softened amid lingering tensions over Gaza, organized labor, and broader frustrations from the party’s left flank.
A new Quinnipiac University poll released this week found that Shapiro’s lead has narrowed to 13 points. A similar poll conducted a few months ago showed him having an 18-point lead.
Pennsylvania is a critical battleground state where voters have been split. Trump carried the state by nearly 2 percentage points in 2024. Four years earlier, the state backed former President Joe Biden.
Political strategist James Christopher argued that Trump’s remark was characteristic of his political style but nonetheless served a strategic purpose.
“Trump’s simple schoolyard attack follows his typical tirades, but it is still strategically relevant,” Christopher told the Washington Examiner, adding that Trump understands the value of defining a possible national rival before that rival can shape his own image.
Christopher noted that Trump himself “turned his celebrity into a presidency,” defeating more experienced politicians, and said recent Democratic Socialists of America-backed primary victories demonstrate that even well-funded incumbents can be vulnerable when an energized ideological base turns out.
He said Shapiro remains “a strong governor with broad crossover appeal” and “an incredible track record,” but said that the very moderation that has made him attractive to independents and some Republicans has also created friction with progressives over issues including Gaza, organized labor, affordability, and economic populism.
“I believe that in the gubernatorial race, Republicans will also try to tie Shapiro to the party’s furthest-left positions, whether he supports them or not,” Christopher said. “Their goal will be to blur the distinctions, weaken his crossover brand, and force him to answer for the broadest Democratic coalitions.”
For Christopher, Trump’s jab was “more than an insult”—it was “an early effort to define Shapiro, before Shapiro defines himself.”
Democratic strategist Jay Satterfield, principal at North Shore Strategies, largely dismissed Trump’s comments as standard campaign rhetoric but said Democrats should not ignore the wider political environment.
“President Trump’s comments are campaign rhetoric,” Satterfield told the Washington Examiner. “That’s politics. But Democrats would be making a mistake if we ignored the fact that voters are frustrated.”
Rather than focusing on partisan fights, Satterfield said voters remain consumed by “kitchen table” concerns such as housing costs, groceries, gas prices, utility bills, and lingering inflation, particularly in working-class communities.
“My generation is buried in student loan debt, and inflation has stretched family budgets to the breaking point,” he said. “Those kitchen table issues are what people care about now and will continue to for a long time.”
Still, Satterfield said that Shapiro has demonstrated an ability to build the kind of coalition Democrats need to win in competitive states.
“Josh Shapiro has proven he can win over independents and moderate Republicans,” he said. “Whether it’s him or any Democrat, the path to victory is the same: stop talking at working people and start talking with them. That’s how you win in Appalachia. That’s how you win across the South. And that’s how you win America.”
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He also brushed off Republican attacks on Shapiro’s appeal, adding, “At the current moment in our history, Republicans talking about likability is kind of like a rooster trying to teach a duck how to crow. Bless their hearts, they’ve got enough of their own bass ackwards mess to sort out before they start grading somebody else’s paper.”
An email to Shapiro’s campaign for comment was not returned.