Vice President Kamala Harris' selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate two weeks out from the Democratic National Convention comes as a bit of a "shock," and GOP strategists suggest it could hurt her in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, where Gov. Josh Shapiro was purported to have been the favored choice.
"Kamala Harris did not pick Josh Shapiro because antisemitic progressives did not like that he is Jewish," Mike Berg, spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee told Fox News Digital in a statement. "It was Harris' first major decision as the nominee, and she caved to the pro-Hamas contingency within the Democratic Party."
Berg continued that Walz "reinforces" Harris' "biggest weaknesses: crime and immigration."
"Kamala Harris helped bankroll the 2020 riots in Minnesota when she promoted the Minnesota Freedom Fund. Walz let Minnesota burn. Kamala Harris supported decriminalizing illegal immigration and abolishing ICE — Walz supported making Minnesota a sanctuary state," he said.
Earlier this week, a decades-old article resurfaced in which Shapiro wrote of being an Israeli army volunteer and disparaged the Palestinian people. The Philadelphia Inquirer uncovered the essay that he wrote for the Campus Times, the student newspaper of the University of Rochester, from which Shapiro graduated in 1995. In the article, Shapiro stressed his view that "Palestinians will not peacefully coexist," because "they do not have the capabilities to establish their own homelands and make it successful even with the aid of Israel and the United States."
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Strategists are speculating that Harris may have been primed to pick Shapiro up until the resurfaced op-ed, which could have distanced some of the party's more progressive base who believe an Israeli ceasefire will put an end to Palestinian casualties.
"That's 100% of the reason she was willing to sacrifice essentially locking up Pennsylvania for her campaign, dramatically helping them hold the Senate seat in Pennsylvania, and there are three congressional swing seats in Pennsylvania that Shapiro all won overwhelmingly in 2022," a House Republican strategist told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"All of that would have been taken off the map for Republicans. But because he was pro-Israel, it was effectively disqualifying for her, and she caved to the far left, pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party," the strategist said.
Walz will now join Harris on a multi-state campaign tour in key battleground states over the next few days, as Harris attempts to rebrand herself as a moderate candidate and distance herself from her past progressive positions.
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Nate Benefield, senior vice president at the Commonwealth Foundation, told Fox News Digital, "This move really seems like it was more focused on solidifying the progressive base of the Democratic Party."
"I don't know that the VP choice really makes a dramatic difference nationwide, but, a couple of points in Pennsylvania, may be the margin," Benefield said. "I think this does indicate that their decision was less about the swing states but energizing the progressive base."
Meanwhile, when it comes to Harris attempting to appear more moderate with the launch of Republicans for Harris this week, Benefield said, "There's a long track record there of these progressive ideas that really don't appeal to voters in in Pennsylvania and Michigan, Wisconsin and other swing states."
Walz, 60, is a former U.S. Army National Guard member and a former teacher who has raised his profile in recent weeks as an effective advocate for Harris. He grew up in a small town in Nebraska, and was also a football coach and union member at a high school in Minnesota before getting into politics. Recently, he attacked former President Trump and his running mate JD Vance as "weird," a viral insult the Harris campaign has embraced.
A former member of Congress from a Republican-leaning district, Walz has proven appeal with rural, white voters, though he has also championed progressive policies as governor, such as free school meals and expanded paid worker leave. While Minnesota is a solidly Democratic state, it is close to Wisconsin and Michigan, two crucial battlegrounds.
Fox News Digital's Peter Aitken, Andrew Mark Miller and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
