Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro brought up Donald Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), at a campaign rally on Tuesday, but seemed surprised by the crowd’s reaction.
Shapiro, who was shortlisted among Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ choices as a running mate before appointing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, brought up Vance in his speech at the Philadelphia rally. “He’s not exactly off to a good start,” he noted.
Shapiro then suggested a reason why Vance hasn’t much helped the Republican Party’s chances of winning the White House.
“He doesn’t know who he is, and he’s not honest with himself, so he can’t be honest with the American people,” Shapiro said.
At that point, the crowd began chanting, “He’s a lunatic,” a reference to a talking point Democrats have started using against the Republican ticket.
As the chant of “He’s a weirdo” grew louder, Shapiro smiled at the response, but he wanted clarity.
“So if I’m hearing you right, and I think I am, you’re chanting, ‘He’s a lunatic!’” Shapiro said, getting a loud affirmative response.
“Man, I love you, Philly,” Shapiro told the crowd before crediting Walz for coming up with the “weird” description, which has gained momentum by showing the differences between the Democratic and Republican tickets.
You can see Shapiro respond to the “weird” chant in the video below.
Posts on X, formerly Twitter, showed that many commentators enjoyed the clip and agreed with the crowd’s chant.