Shapiro fires back at RFK Jr., Trump on measles: ‘Incompetence’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pushed back at President Trump after the president called him a "bad governor" who is "close to incompetent" in the Oval Office on Friday. Shapiro responded on social media, saying that allowing measles to reemerge after it was declared eliminated in 2000 constitutes incompetence, and he referenced four measles-related deaths in the state.
Why It Matters
The exchange links political criticism to a public-health crisis: measles-related fatalities in Pennsylvania are being invoked in a dispute between a state governor and the president, highlighting tensions over responsibility and response. The framing of accountability by top officials can influence public discussion of outbreak management.
Key Facts
- Governor: Josh Shapiro (D), Pennsylvania
- President: Donald Trump
- Event: Trump called Shapiro a "bad governor" who is "close to incompetent" during Oval Office comments on Friday
- Response: Shapiro posted on social media on Friday, writing: "Incompetence is letting measles, a disease that was declared eliminated in 2000, reemerge."
- Deaths reported: Four measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro publicly disputed President Donald Trump’s criticism after the president labeled him a "bad governor" and said he was "close to incompetent" during remarks in the Oval Office on Friday. The comments came amid reporting that four measles-related deaths had occurred in Pennsylvania.
Shapiro took to social media the same day to rebut the president's characterization, writing that letting measles return after it was declared eliminated in 2000 amounted to incompetence. His post directly tied the resurgence of the disease to failures in public-health management.
The exchange frames a political confrontation around an ongoing public-health issue, with the governor and the president trading sharp remarks while the state deals with multiple fatalities linked to measles. Shapiro's response emphasizes the historical context that measles had been declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.
Both the president's Oval Office remarks and Shapiro's social-media reply occurred Friday; Shapiro's post included the quoted line about measles but additional text from that post was not provided in the available reporting.
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