The Democratic Party's most ambitious politicians have been courting African American activists in New York this week as the party's unofficial 2028 presidential nomination contest takes shape.
On the opening day of left-wing activist Al Sharpton's National Action Network's four-day annual conference, where more than a half-dozen potential candidates are speaking to make inroads among one of Democrats' most powerful voting blocs, Shapiro was up first.
He claimed that "everyone is less safe" because of President Donald Trump's leadership and blamed him for a nationwide surge in antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and bigotry.
Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, says such comments are "standard Democrat fare."
"Gov. Shapiro is just following the lead of the other Democrats, who have nothing else to run on except their Trump derangement syndrome," she tells AFN.
The Democratic governor is already considered a top-tier 2028 presidential prospect with a clear path to reelection in his battleground state this year, but Gramley says, "He has nothing to run on, nothing that would attract mainstream Americans."
Though Shapiro is considered a successful and politically strong governor by political and polling metrics, Gramley points out that he is not moderate when it comes to social issues like life and LGBTQ rights, and his general push for more government and less school choice are also problematic.
"He has nothing to run on as far as any successes," she submits. "He can paint the picture as he wants to, as far as what's going on here in Pennsylvania, but it's not a good picture when you take off the cover of what Shapiro is saying and see what's actually taking place."
"So, the typical Democrat comeback is attack President Trump, and that's just what Gov. Shapiro is doing," Gramley reiterates. "He has nothing else to say."
She believes the U.S. would be "in a very bad way" if Shapiro were to ever become president of the United States.
