Gov. Shapiro SLAMS Trump and Blanche over Epstein coverup

I'm joined now by the governor of. Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. Governor. Shapiro, I I want to jump into a little. bit of Pennsylvania news, but first. there is some national news that's. happening right now, and that is that. Todd Blanche's confirmation is in doubt. unless he decides to come forward and. put an uh put put a permanent end to. this $1.8 billion slush fund in writing. That's the only way he's going to get. John Cornyn and Tom Tillis to sign on to. this thing. Can I have your reaction to. the fact that we now have a Republican. attorney general who is holding out on.

his own permanent confirmation because. he seems hell-bent on allowing the. president to have a slush fund from. which he could pay out insurrectionists? >> Look, I I always thought the slush fund. was dangerous if not illegal, and so it. should not be hard to say they're not. going to pursue this slush fund. They're. not going to provide the president. access to $1.8 billion worth of taxpayer. money that he can just give out to his. buddies or for whatever he sees fit.

That's a pretty low bar for anyone who. wants to be attorney general, anyone who. wants to be the chief legal officer of. the United States of America to to get. over. But similarly, there there's other. things that should be pretty easy, which. is to give victims their proper due when. it comes to the Epstein files and those. who. um who were wronged, those who were. abused, those whose abuse is documented. in those files. I mean, I think Blanche.

needs to decide if he wants to be the. attorney general of the United States or. he wants to be the president's personal. lawyer. If he wants to be his lawyer, he. can go do that. But being the attorney. general of the United States is about. standing up for the American people, not. working against them uh as he seemingly. is if he refuses uh to you know, to do. away with this slush fund and refuses to. be fully transparent when it comes to. who's in the Epstein files. >> Do you think that Republicans would.

similarly have no problem if a. Democratic president decided to offer up. billions of dollars in a slush fund to. Democratic priorities, a slush fund to. the ACLU, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood? Do you think that Republicans would be. as accepting of a president being able. to just consolidate billions of dollars. of taxpayer money to give out to his. political allies as they are right now? >> be freaking out and they'd be on shows. like yours on, you know, on the other.

side. They'd be on TV every day calling. it out. They'd call it lawlessness. They'd they'd pretend to be law and. order about the whole thing. Of course, it's a total double standard. And by the. way, when I talk to these guys. privately, they know it. They just don't. have the courage to speak up and I think. that that speaks to their lack of. character. >> On this issue of the Epstein files, what. do you make of the fact that all of. these people on the right had predicated. their support for the Republican Party. on this idea that the Epstein files.

would be released only to now watch them. get further not only buried but buried. at the hands of somebody who is, as you. mentioned, in the position because he. was Donald Trump's personal criminal. defense attorney and as we know Trump. himself is now implicated in these. files. >> Yeah, I mean, look, I I I'll just say. what's what's in these files based on, you know, what we're generally aware of. publicly. is really serious stuff. And Brian, I. realize it's gotten politicized, but I'm.

I'm the former lead prosecutor here in. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the. former attorney general, former chief. law enforcement officer. I prosecuted pedophiles. I prosecuted people that raped children. That ripped away the innocence. of our children here across our. Commonwealth. And the people who did that. are behind bars because I prosecuted. them. And for those that we couldn't prosecute.

cuz they were outside the statute of. limitations, their crimes were exposed. We need that in the United States of. America. We need to make sure that those who. engaged in these crimes against. children, those who enabled it, those who covered. it up are held accountable. This. shouldn't be some political football. And this shouldn't be, uh, you know, sort of a litmus test for some. Republican senator that they've got a, you know, curry favor with Trump so they.

can't be for transparency, they can't be. for protecting our kids. Come on. These people know better. And. there's serious, you know, lives that. are at stake here. There are people who. have been victimized who deserve who. deserve this accountability. And now's. the time for it. >> Well said. I want to switch topics here. now to your home state of Pennsylvania. You know, a lot of Democrats across the. country, rightfully, are talking about. affordability. You've had the chance to. actually make good on that promise, on.

that slogan, uh, through this latest. budget that was just signed into law in. PA. So, can you talk about a little bit. of what that offers? >> Yeah, and just for your viewers and. listeners understand, um, I'm a governor. with a divided legislature. So, for me. to pass any of this stuff, I need. Republican votes and Democratic votes. And we've actually been able to come. together and cut taxes 10 different. times, including a massive tax cut for. seniors who are living on fixed income. And the first progressive tax reform in.

probably 50 years in Pennsylvania, something known as the working. Pennsylvanians tax credit, where if. you're working, if you're struggling to. get by, we'll put about 850 or so bucks. back in your pockets. And 940,000. Pennsylvanians qualified for that. That's real money going back in their. pockets. We just passed a COLA, a cost. of living adjustment or increase for. former firefighters, former cops, former. teachers, and state workers. That's real.

money back in people's pockets. The real. challenge we have is every time I cut. taxes, every time I cut costs, and I put. a dollar into somebody's pocket here in. Pennsylvania, Donald Trump and his. enablers take two bucks out. >> Yeah. >> Because everything costs more because of. their policies. Consider this, the. tariffs have driven up costs for farmers. and small businesses. Just drove past a gas station here in. Harrisburg, gas is 419 a gallon because.

of Trump's wrong war in the Middle East. that he got into and has no idea how to. get out of, and the American people are. paying at the pump along with paying in. many other ways. I just cite those as. just two examples of how Trump's. economic policies are costing. Pennsylvanians at the time where I'm. trying to put money back in their. pockets. >> Are they recognizing that? I mean, even. Republicans and independent voters or. even disaffected Democrats who voted for. Trump, while you've been talking to. Pennsylvanians, and that's a crucial.

state and I think a really. accurate bellwether of where the country. stands, do people recognize that the. issues that they're contending with are. the very issues that Trump himself ran. on in 2024, but are now being. exacerbated expressly by his own. policies? >> Yeah, I I think they see that. I mean, they heard a guy who said, "I'll never. touch Social Security, Medicare, or. Medicaid." Yeah. First thing he does, he. kicks 510,000 Pennsylvanians off of.

their Medicaid and health care. Said, "We're going to end forever wars." And. this guy is now engaged in a war he. don't know how to get out of in. Iran. He said he's going to bring down. costs. Remember? He kept pretending like. he came up with the word groceries. Well, last time I went to the grocery. store, which I think was yesterday or. the day before, things cost more because. of Donald Trump's policies. I I think. they see that um he's not only swung and. missed on everything, he's made things. way worse.

And folks are rightly frustrated. They're frustrated things cost more. They're frustrated that we're in a war. that he doesn't know how to get out of. They're frustrated that there's. chaos and cruelty and corruption um. around. And they deserve relief from. that. I I try as governor of. Pennsylvania to do my part to provide. the opposite of what Donald Trump is. doing. I think others are doing that. across the country. We need more of. that. And I think the way we stop a lot. of this chaos and cruelty and corruption.

is to have people show up in record. numbers this November for the midterms. Whether you live here in Pennsylvania or. anywhere else. And and cast your vote in. a way that shows your dissatisfaction. with the way Trump is leading our. nation. >> You had mentioned that you passed this. budget with divided government. Um this. is one of the few states that that does. have divided government. And so what. were some of the concessions on both. sides? What did Republicans want that. they didn't get? And what did Democrats.

want that they didn't get? >> Well, let me be clear. Compromise is the. name of the game in Pennsylvania. And. when you're a governor and you're trying. to work to bring both sides together. But I will never ever ever compromise my. principles. You know, Pennsylvania will. never be a right-to-work state. I will. never undermine a woman's right to. choose. In fact, I want to codify more. protections into law. I'll always. protect the rights of our LGBTQ. community. So there's there's certain. things. Those are just a few examples. where you want to show up at the.

bargaining table and try to negotiate on. that. I'm not doing that. But I'm. willing to trade when it comes to. allowing us to get things done. And so, you make some trades that's allowed us. to invest historic amounts in public. education, in public safety, and. economic development. Our economy is. growing faster than nearly any other. state. We grew at 5.4%. last year, which is just an. extraordinary. growth rate. Actually, we created more. jobs than all the two states in the. entire country. And so, when it came.

time to hammer out a deal, look, I wish. I could have gotten more money for. building more housing in our. Commonwealth. I wish I could have gotten. more money for. for mass transit. I wish that I was able. to raise the minimum wage to $15 an. hour. Those are things that the. Republicans wouldn't go along with. But, we got a ton of wins, and I'm going to keep coming after all. those other things and working hard to. find common ground so we can get more. stuff done here. >> You know, I I mentioned that PA was a. good bellwether for the rest of the.

country, and you said that you wanted to. to be able to secure more funds for. housing. You know, one of the issues. that Trump ran and campaigned on was. this idea that housing was too. expensive. He talked about housing and. rent in addition to that elusive. old-fashioned word that of groceries, but he wouldn't even sign his own. housing bill. And so, what did you make. of the fact that something that he. campaigned on that was handed to him on. a silver platter, that the Republicans. were prepared to do a big celebratory.

signing ceremony on, he wouldn't even. give them that win because he was so. hell-bent on trying to use that as a. hostage the PA to Save America Act. >> I mean, it's just more petulance from. Donald Trump. And you you know why he. didn't sign it? Cuz he actually doesn't. give a damn about people having. affordable housing or people being able. to put a roof over their head. He. literally doesn't care. He only cares. about himself. He cares about enriching. himself and the people around him. He. cares about being in the news and just.

constantly in people's faces. And he. cares about lying about our elections, which is what his whole campaign behind. the Save Act is. So, it's not a shock to. me that after seemingly a pretty good. bipartisan consensus came together in. the Congress of the United States, um he wouldn't sign it because he. actually doesn't give a damn about the. people that he was elected to serve. >> Last topic here, and this one hurts. Because I'm coming to you from Los. Angeles, and uh and you guys got LeBron.

And. uh on. >> Yeah, we should take some time on this. one here. Go ahead. >> So, and and by the way, this is coming. from somebody who is also a Giants fan, a long a a lifelong New York New York. Football Giants fan. So, already watched. Saquon Barkley go from the New York. Giants to the Philadelphia Eagles. So, >> Uh by the way, by the way, just. for nothing. You guys got nothing for. that. So, >> Yeah. >> to all you New York Giants fans out.

there, thank you for Saquon. >> Well, look, we'll we'll see what this. year brings. We got we got a young. squad, so and and hopefully a healthy. squad between between Scarabou, between. Jackson Dart, and and neighbors. >> too. >> A great coach. So, so we'll see what. happens on that front. But, to what extent did you know, there was. some some reporting, I think Peter Hamby. did some reporting in Puck about you. uh. kind of trying to trying to nudge LeBron.

out to PA. So, to what extent do you. think that that your politicking with. him had some impact on his decision to. move out to Philadelphia? >> Well, first off, let me just say this was. LeBron and LeBron's decision only. And. he made it for all the reasons that he. said for his family, his desire to win a. a championship, period. I will just tell. you when I had the opportunity, I guess. this is now close to 2 weeks ago, to engage with him. I made I shot my.

shot. I made my pitch as to why Philly. would be a great place for him to play, a great team to play with that can win a. championship, particularly after we. fleece Jaylen Brown from the Boston. Celtics, which was pretty cool. And I I think it's also important to. note that LeBron is one of the great. philanthropists, not in basketball, but. in our country. I mean, he's doing. extraordinary work and that Philly is a. great place for him to do his. philanthropy. So, I made my pitch. I'm thrilled he picked.

Philly, but I'm not here to claim any. ownership of that decision. It was. LeBron's and LeBron's only. >> Were you surprised when he made that. decision? >> I was thrilled when he made that. decision. And I'm so excited for him to. play in Philly and And by the way, if if. you miss him and you want to come to a. game in Philly, I'd I'd love to host. you. >> [laughter]. >> Thanks. All right, last question here. As we come up on on football season. then, what is your prediction for the. NFC East? Who wins the NFC East? >> Well, look, I I do agree.

that New York is better. I think you saw. something with Scandabou. and with Jackson Dart last year. Obviously, they had injuries. Neighbors. had an injury. There's something unique about that. offense. So, if they can stay healthy, particularly with a good coach, they're. going to be better than last year. Obviously, the the Commanders were. totally beat up last year. If they're. healthy, Jayden Daniels is a hell of a. quarterback. They're going to be better. this year.

But obviously, my money's still on the. birds. I mean, we we had some issues at. offensive coordinator. Howie Roseman, our our great GM, fixed that. He was. able to sign some wide receivers that I. think are really going to improve our. wide receiving core. We just locked up. Jaylen Carter for, I think, till 2031, if I'm not mistaken. And so, our defense. has just strengthened in in a big way. And howie will tinker right up until the. deadline and put the birds in a position.

where we can win a Super Bowl again this. year. I'm not claiming we will, but. we're going to be in a position to do. it. And I still think we are. definitively the team to beat in the NFC. East. And I think Dallas' streak of I. think it's been 30 years without an NFC. championship. I think that. >> That graphic is going to change to 31. >> Give me your definitive rankings top. of the four teams in the NFC East. How. does the season end?

>> Birds, Giants, Reds No, reds. Commanders, Cowboys. >> Mine is identical, but flip birds and. giants. So, we'll see how it goes. This. might just be wish casting, but we'll. come back to this. So, Gov, I appreciate. your time. Thanks for the work you're. doing. Congratulations on passing that. budget. And thanks Thanks again for. taking the time today. >> Great to be with you. Thanks.