Governor Josh Shapiro of Abington made a guest appearance on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday, March 14 to discuss the government funding bill that passed last week, share his accomplishments and criticize President Donald Trump’s trade policies, which he said were “jacking up costs for farmers and for manufacturers.”

Maher opened by asking whether Democrats can bring back male voters.

“I think it’s about giving everybody the freedom to chart their own course, the opportunity to succeed, not trying to create others, not trying to slice and dice the electorate,” Shapiro responded.

Maher asked if that outlook applies racially as well.

“I think it’s for everybody. Absolutely. First thing I did when I was governor I signed my first executive order doing away with the college degree requirement,” Shapiro said. “I followed that up by increasing our vo-tech budget in high schools by 50 percent. …We don’t care if you’re male female, black white, doesn’t matter, we want you to have opportunity in Pennsylvania.”

Government Funding Bill

Ten Democrats voted Friday in favor of a procedural measure to keep the government funded through September, which the Senate approved by a 54-46 vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has faced criticism over his vote in favor of the measure that allowed the GOP bill to reach Trump’s desk, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Schumer said he wanted to avert a shutdown to prevent Trump from gaining even more power.

“I would have liked to see when Chuck Schumer had leverage here to say, ‘We need A, B, C and D for the Democratic Party,’ and force the Republicans to meet him halfway on those issues and deliver something for the folks who are worried now,” Shapiro said Friday.

“I’m not an expert in the D.C. stuff,” Shapiro said about the issue. “I try and stay as far away from that as I can. I live in the real world in Pennsylvania, where we have to balance budgets.”

Shapiro argued the president had failed to deliver on his promise to bring a “common-sense revolution”.

“It’s not common sense what he did to press a button and start a tariff war with our two biggest trading partners,” Shapiro said, noting that Pennsylvania dairy farmers have been harmed. “Now their products cost 25% more when they’re trying to sell in Mexico. They’re losing market share. It’s tanking the stock market. … It’s making goods cost more.”

Department of Education cuts, Judaism

“I’ve got kids who are coming from poor families who rely on this funding from the federal government,” Shapiro said regarding Trump’s order to lay off more than half of the U.S. Department of Education’s staff last week. “It’s important that we support the American people, not the American institutions. You are right that there is waste, there is fraud, there is abuse in these institutions, which should be rooted out.”

Maher brought up Shapiro’s Jewish faith as a potential reason why Kamala Harris passed him up as her vice presidential nominee because “there was a wing in this party that was very anti-Israel.”

“I’m damn proud of my faith. I said all along that Kamala Harris had a deeply personal decision to make in that process. In the end, so did I,” Shapiro said. “I love being governor of Pennsylvania, and I love charting my own course and being able to serve the people on my terms.”

You can watch the full interview below:

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Screengrab: Youtube