Did Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker just announce who Kamala Harris’ running mate will be?
As it turns out, no.
Parker on Friday released a video on her campaign’s Instagram account — her official mayoral Instagram is a different handle — that encourages voters to support “Kamala Harris for president” and “Josh Shapiro for vice president.”
It was far from clear in the video whether Parker was simply promoting the Pennsylvania governor’s chances of winning the veepstakes or accidentally scooping Harris’ big announcement.
Attempts to reach Parker’s campaign were not immediately successful. But The Inquirer reached a source close to Parker who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on behalf of her campaign.
”This is not an announcement of anything. This is just the mayor showing her support for a longtime friend who we know is one of the people being considered,” the source said.
And so the wait continues to find out who will be Harris’ running mate.
Parker’s video features local union leaders and elected officials praising Shapiro. That could help him rebut charges that he isn’t labor-friendly due to concerns about his support for school vouchers, which is anathema to teachers’ unions.
”I can’t think of a better partner than our governor, Josh Shapiro,” Parker says in the video.
Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, who appeared in the video, said she was surprised to see the video posted on Friday but thought it was fun and agreed with the message promoting Shapiro as VP.
Ellis-Marseglia was involved in a separate pro-Harris ad arranged by the Parker campaign and said the group taped pro-Shapiro content afterward, but she didn’t realize it would be used.
”We did it as an after-take as kind of a joke,” she said.
Staff writer Katie Bernard contributed material.