Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker caused quite a stir on Friday afternoon when she appeared to reveal the identity of Vice President Kamala Harris’ new running mate in a campaign ad-style video. In the video, Parker declared, “Kamala Harris for president — Josh Shapiro for vice president!” This led to viewers questioning whether the mayor had accidentally leaked information about Shapiro’s selection over other contenders, such as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Tim Walz of Minnesota.
However, a source close to Parker told the Philadelphia Inquirer that she was simply demonstrating her support for Shapiro, whom she considers a “friend.” National sources close to the Harris campaign also doubted the mayor had leaked any confidential information. One source mentioned that the video was “odd,” but believed Parker was trying to promote “fetch” – a term from the movie Mean Girls.
Another source explained that it’s their understanding that Vice President Harris has not yet made a decision on her running mate, and if she has, only a few Democrats are aware of the name. A third Post source stated that the selection is still undecided. Context clues suggest that these denials could be accurate since Parker posted another video wearing the same outfit on July 26th, indicating the Shapiro footage might be more than a week old.
Additionally, it appears that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with Harris to discuss the vice president position recently, further supporting the idea that Parker doesn’t have any inside information about the pick. The running mate decision is expected either over the weekend or early next week, with the yet-to-be-named duo planning to campaign in swing states leading up to the Democratic convention in Chicago from August 19th to 22nd.
