Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro revealed Tuesday that President Trump called him over the weekend to ask how his family was doing after the arson attack on the governor’s residence earlier this month.
“I appreciated that the president called me,” Shapiro told reporters at the annual Easter Egg Hunt in Harrisburg – the first public event held at the governor’s mansion since the April 13 blaze destroyed the historic state-owned building’s dining room.
“I actually didn’t take his call because it came from his cellphone and I didn’t have that number in my phone, so I didn’t know who it was,” the governor said. “As soon as I heard his message, I called him right back.”
Shapiro said he spoke with Trump for more than 15 minutes, and the two discussed several topics, including the arson attack that forced the governor, his family, guests and pets to rush out of the building in the wee hours of the morning.
“He was very gracious,” Shapiro said of Trump, noting that the president asked about his wife, Lori, and their four children — who had all been asleep when Molotov cocktails were tossed into the building, igniting a huge blaze.
“He asked how Lori and the kids were doing. [We] talked for a couple minutes about what transpired at the residence, and then we talked about for maybe the next 15 minutes or so about a whole host of other topics,” Shapiro said.
The governor refused to go into details about the other topics that were discussed.
“Obviously, I’m not going to get into our private conversation,” he said. “But he’s attuned to the issues that are important to me. I, of course, know the issues that are important to him, and we agreed to stay in touch going forward.”
Cody Balmer — the alleged antisemitic madman accused of scaling a fence, smashing a window with a hammer and then hurling Molotov cocktails into the governor’s residence as Shapiro and his family slept — has been charged with arson, attempted murder, terrorism and other offenses.
Balmer, 38, allegedly referenced Shapiro’s supposed “plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people” during a 911 call admitting to the attack, according to a police warrant.
Authorities are investigating whether Balmer was driven to carry out the attack by antisemitism and prosecutors are weighing tacking on hate crime charges to the alleged firebug’s rap. Shapiro is Jewish.
