Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a rising Democratic star and potential 2028 presidential contender, publicly challenged former Vice President Kamala Harris over her handling of President Joe Biden’s decline, saying she “is going to have to answer” for failing to sound alarms before the 2024 election.

In a blunt interview with Stephen A. Smith on his SiriusXM show, Shapiro said Harris’s silence in the months before Biden bowed out of the race raises questions that cannot be ignored.

“She was in the room and yet never said anything publicly,” Shapiro said. “She’s going to have to answer for that.”

Shapiro contrasted Harris’s approach with his own, saying he voiced doubts directly to Biden’s inner circle. “I was direct with them. I told them my concerns,” the governor said.

The comments carry weight well beyond intra-party drama. Shapiro stressed the central role his swing state plays in presidential politics: “If you can’t win Pennsylvania, it’s pretty darn hard to win the national election.”

The governor’s remarks come as excerpts from Harris’s memoir, 107 Days, surface ahead of its release next week. Harris portrays Shapiro as overly preoccupied with the perks of the vice presidency during her running-mate search, alleging he asked about bedrooms at the Naval Observatory and whether Pennsylvania artwork could be displayed.

Shapiro’s spokesperson dismissed the claims as “simply ridiculous,” saying he was laser-focused on beating Donald Trump.

Harris’s book revisits the chaotic weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate performance in June 2024, when Democrats wrestled with whether he should remain the nominee. Harris writes she felt “in the worst position to make the case that he should drop out,” fearing any move would look like “poisonous disloyalty.” She later acknowledged the restraint as “recklessness.”

Biden ultimately ended his campaign on July 21, 2024, paving the way for Harris’s 107-day sprint against Trump — a period that gives the memoir its title.

Harris also reveals she initially wanted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as her running mate but rejected the idea as “too big of a risk,” saying, “We were already asking a lot of America,” she writes, pointing to her own identity as a Black woman married to a Jewish man.

Buttigieg said he was “surprised” by the passage and countered that voters care more about leadership than “categories.”

The book, published by Simon & Schuster, hits shelves Tuesday.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)