Senate Pro Tem Kim Ward says Shapiro “might have a problem with strong women”
Is what you see with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in public what you also get in private? And does he treat women differently than men?
Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) has some thoughts.
In a wide-ranging conversation with WPHT’s Dawn Stensland, Ward shared her opinions on working with Shapiro as well as concerns on how he treats female elected officials.
“One thing that the governor doesn’t like, and that is to be challenged,” said Ward. “And he doesn’t want to be challenged by a woman.
“It’s Kamala Harris. It was me, ‘consider the source,’ when I was asking questions. Then it was me again, I’m ‘chirping’ at him.”
She recalled state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) being told that he “didn’t like her tone” when questioning Shapiro as attorney general. “He doesn’t want to be challenged or questioned.
“I think sometimes you forget you’re a public servant,” she continued. “You answer to the public. And I wish he could be more forthcoming on a lot of issues.”
Stenslund recalled excerpts of the article in the Atlantic when the author, Tim Alberta, surprised Shapiro with Harris’s comments about him.
The writer shared with Shapiro that Harris had “accused him, in essence, of measuring the drapes, even inquiring about featuring Pennsylvania artists in the vice-presidential residence; of insisting ‘that he would want to be in the room for every decision’ Harris might make; and, more generally, of hijacking the conversation when she interviewed him for the job, to the point where she reminded him that he would not be co-president.”
His guard down, Shapiro blurted out about the art, “She wrote that in her book? That’s complete and utter bullshit.”
“I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies.”
For Ward, the moment was revealing.
“That was just a moment where he wasn’t able to be scripted,” criticized Ward. “They didn’t have the information ahead of time to figure out what his answer should be. He has 26 taxpayer-paid communication folks. They are very good and usually he’s prepared for things. But you got to see what happens when he is not and somebody challenged him. It’s not pretty.”
Ward continued to assess Shapiro’s demeanor.
“So if he does run for president, which we all know he is going to, at least people know what you’re getting. You can see the real person behind that perfect facade.
She agreed with Stenslund’s comment that she is being treated differently because she is a woman, not because she’s a Republican.
“Yes. Because he’s irritated. Because I’m questioning him. I haven’t seen him snap at my male colleagues in that same kind of belittling manner. He might have a woman problem with strong women.”
Ward thought Harris’ comments “nailed exactly who he is. He’s very likable. He’s pleasant to be around. People meet him and they like him. And that’ probably why he flies all over the state on taxpayer dollars, doing press conferences in every community so that he can meet people, because that’s his gift. But when you get behind that facade, I don’t think that’s what’s there.”
During the 30-minute interview, Ward also shared her thoughts on the repairs and security upgrades to the governor’s mansion, the cost to taxpayers and the subpoenas to discover how much, and transparency in the Shapiro administration.
On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee voted to authorize a probe into taxpayer-funded security upgrades at Shapiro’s private residence in Montgomery County and administrative travel on charter flights.
Three subpoenas were issued, including two related to the $1 million expenditure on the residence. An additional $32 million was spent on upgrades to the Governor’s residence in Harrisburg, after the arson attack in the spring.
“I’m sure every taxpayer cares and wants the governor and his family to be safe,” said Ward. “We want to know what we’re spending it on. What possible security upgrades are over a million dollars for your personal home? We’re just asking, what was the money spent on?”
Ward said that this is a taxpayer issue and that the governor, as well as other elected officials, can’t do things in the dark as public figures.
“You can’t continuously hide behind the state police said so,” she continued. “We’re looking for information from the state police that says, they said so.
“And what are these purposes and why can’t we see everything that was happening? We want the governor to be safe. We also want our tax dollars guarded and accountable.”
Ward said that she is hopeful that the administration cooperates with the subpoenas that compels the production of documents by Jan. 16.
“If there is nothing here that is tawdry, then for goodness sakes, just release the information.
“We don’t lightly issue subpoenas. We don’t do it without consideration. We’ve already asked for this information through the proper channels.”
The five-term state senator also was critical of Shapiro in terms of transparency.
“Governor Shapiro’s administration has a transparency problem,” she said. “They’re always operating in emergency or crisis mode. And by doing so, they’re circumventing the people footing the bill.
“Maybe he is outfitting his house thinking he is going to try to run for president and he is going to have protection like a president. But we’re paying for that.”
Ward did not stop there, calling out the deletion of a week’s worth of emails from a former Shapiro administration deputy cabinet secretary who was making serious allegations of workplace harassment against a Shapiro aide.
“We delete the emails and say we don’t know anything about the sexual harassment case. We have to subpoena what we need here to get the answers that all of us deserve to know. And beyond that, we have the Ethics Commission issue in this private residence space because they went to the Ethics Commission a month or so after they commenced the work.
“You can’t do that.”
Steve Ulrich is the managing editor of PoliticsPA.
