Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity on Wednesday accused Gov. Josh Shapiro of making the assassination of Charlie Kirk “about himself” in his keynote speech at an anti-hate conference in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Just one hour later, Garrity, a Republican challenging Shapiro for governor in 2026, also announced the endorsement of the state’s most recent Republican governor, Tom Corbett.
Corbett had just introduced Shapiro’s keynote speech at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit the day prior.
During his speech in Pittsburgh, Shapiro condemned political violence of all kinds. He told his story of surviving an arson attack on Passover earlier this year and also mentioned various other incidents of violence, including the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler.
He also spoke about the 2018 deadly antisemitic attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, which claimed 11 lives and led to the creation of the summit.
But Garrity, who is expected earn the state Republican Party’s endorsement for governor this weekend, criticized the Democratic governor for only naming Kirk once in his 25-minute speech in a statement sent out by her campaign on Wednesday.
“This assassination is a moment for Americans to come together and honor Charlie’s deep devotion to the founding values of our nation: freedom of speech and the free exchange of ideas,” Garrity said. “It’s not another opportunity for Shapiro to play politics and polish his image.”
Garrity also said that Kirk “was a patriot who inspired and will continue to inspire millions of young Americans” and that Pennsylvanians should hear about him “without making it about Josh Shapiro.”
Garrity also denounced Shapiro for not condemning state Democratic officials who’ve made critical statements about Kirk in the wake of his murder.
Shapiro denounced the assassination of Kirk in the days leading up to his remarks and ordered flags at half mast in his honor.
Shapiro’s office declined to respond to Garrity’s criticism, but in his Tuesday remarks he spoke about the importance of civil bipartisan dialogue and uncensored speech. He criticized Trump’s administration for responding to Kirk’s death by blaming left-wing organizations and threatening a crackdown on them.
“I don’t care if it’s coming from the left or the right, we need to be universal in our condemnation, and the president has once again failed that leadership test, failed the morality test, and it makes us all less safe,” Shapiro argued.
Garrity took issue with that.
“Instead of standing with President Trump to make our communities safer, Shapiro chose to attack him for being tough on crime,” she said. “That tells you everything you need to know about where his priorities are.”
Shapiro and his family survived an arson attack on the governor’s mansion while they were staying there to celebrate Passover, one of the most significant Jewish holidays. Garrity in her statements on Wednesday acknowledged the attack “was wrong and unacceptable” and “rightly drew bipartisan condemnation,” but argued that since Shapiro had that experience he “should know better than anyone that acts of political violence aren’t about photo ops for politicians.”
“That’s why it’s so troubling that he chose to make Charlie’s assassination about himself instead of honoring his legacy,” she added.
However, Garrity was a guest on The Bob Cortado Show in late August when Cortado said Shapiro has “a level of incompetence, he can’t even protect his own governor’s mansion,” blaming Shapiro for the attack.
“Oh yeah, that was bad,” Garrity responded without pushing back.
Cortado went on to say the attack is “beyond an embarrassment” and “falls to” Shapiro because he oversees his security and state police.
A spokesperson for Garrity’s campaign told WHYY that Garrity was commenting that the attack itself was bad.
Corbett, a one-term Republican governor, introduced Shapiro’s speech on Tuesday by saying they both support “preventing hate-fueled violence.” Shapiro also praised Corbett and other former Pennsylvania governors for coming together in a show of bipartisanship after the Harrisburg arson attack.
Corbett said he decided to endorse Garrity over a week ago and did not play a role in deciding the timing of the announcement. He said he could not hear Shapiro’s speech from backstage at the conference, that his focus was on the summit’s “mission of eradicating hate” and that he’s “not going to comment on what the governor said or didn’t say.”
He also said he is “not commenting on the president one way or the other.” Corbett has pushed back on Trump in the past, emerging as one of the most vocal Republicans in the state rebutting Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.
Corbett, in his endorsement of Garrity, a loyal Trump supporter, said she “has always demonstrated exemplary leadership throughout her career” and “is the best candidate for the Republican ticket.”