‘Morning Joe’ Questions Why Trump Has Stayed Silent on Josh Shapiro Arson Attack: ‘We Have to Be Better’ | Video
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” began its Monday broadcast by reporting on the Sunday morning arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro‘s home. The Jewish governor and his family were asleep inside their mansion in the midst of their Passover celebration when a man scaled the perimeter fence outside their home and intentionally set fire to it.
“This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society,” Shapiro said in a press conference following the attack. “And I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not OK and it has to stop. We have to be better than this.”
Shapiro and his family were safely evacuated, but the residence itself suffered heavy fire damage. A suspect, Cody Balmer, has been taken into custody and will be charged with terrorism, attempted murder, aggravated assault and aggravated arson. “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski was quick to note Monday that it is still unclear whether Balmer’s attack was intentionally connected to Shapiro’s Jewish identity or just an instance of “unbelievably bad timing.”
“It’s obviously a good sign the Head of the FBI is promising a full investigation [into the attack],” Brzezinski noted. “But … have we heard from leaders in this country? Have we heard from the President of the United States on this attack on the home and the family of one of this nation’s governors?” As of this writing, while Vice President JD Vance publicly condemned the attack Sunday evening on his official X account, President Trump has not yet done the same.
You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself below.
The motive behind the attack may still be unknown, but Brzezinski and her “Morning Joe” panelists did discuss its seemingly anti-semitic timing. “There’s a reason why this struck home for so many Jewish people. This is the Passover holiday. This is a time when we’ve often seen anti-semitic attacks,” noted Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “To see one of the most high-profile Jewish politicians in America in a targeted attack that literally could have taken his life, [the lives] of his wife and his small children, it’s just unacceptable.”
“Violence shouldn’t be the price of public service,” Greenblatt continued. “I think we all need to look in the mirror because, yes, he’s a prominent Jewish politician. Yes, he’s a Democrat. But this was Anti-American.”
“We need politicians on both sides of the aisle to call this out,” Greenblatt added, when asked what can be done to combat the ongoing rise of anti-semitism throughout America and around the world right now. “We need people of all faiths to call this out. Again, yes, Governor Shapiro is Jewish, but it’s an Anti-American attack. I think what we really need is people — no matter how they pray or where they’re from — to say, ‘This can’t happen in our country.'”
You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment in the clip above.
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