Ron DeSantis just showed up in Philadelphia.
Now Trump is piling on from Carlisle – and Pennsylvania Democrats are doing exactly what you'd expect.
And what just happened in Pennsylvania this week is the last thing Josh Shapiro wanted anyone to see.
The Governor Who Turned Florida Red Is Coming for Pennsylvania
Ron DeSantis didn't fly to Philadelphia to eat a cheesesteak.
He showed up at the Union League on Tuesday for a fireside conversation alongside Stacy Garrity – Pennsylvania's state treasurer, Army colonel, and the Republican who just broke the all-time record for votes received by a Pennsylvania state official.
In 2024, Garrity shattered that record in her reelection campaign.
The Pennsylvania Democrat Party saw DeSantis coming and fired off exactly the kind of response you'd expect from people who know they're worried.
"Stacy Garrity is hosting an exclusive event alongside extremist Ron DeSantis to talk about affordability – for the low price of $25,000," they posted on Facebook.
That's it.
https://twitter.com/CryptidPolitics/status/2078106442234462358?s=20
That's the whole attack.
A decorated combat veteran who served three decades in the Army Reserve, deployed to both the Gulf War and Iraq, and impressed Josh Shapiro enough that he praised her publicly at her own swearing-in, is now being painted as out of touch for holding a fundraiser.
Every Democrat in America holds fundraisers.
The difference is they don't want cameras on theirs.
Trump Stepped Into the Race and Said What Everyone Knows
One day after DeSantis stood with Garrity in Philadelphia, Trump addressed the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle.
He didn't stay on script.
"I'm telling you, this guy Shapiro is totally overrated," Trump said from the podium. "I watched him the other night doing a speech, and he does not have what it takes."
Then he added something the polls aren't capturing: "Maybe he'll win – and he's expected to win – but I hear things about Stacy, and I'm hearing some poll numbers that are very good."
Trump knows something the political class doesn't want to admit.
https://twitter.com/Jaxon__White/status/2074952061637288129?s=20
Pennsylvania is not a safe state for Democrats right now.
It's a state where Republicans just won the Senate seat, where Trump's approval among working-class voters remains strong, and where Shapiro – for all his national ambitions – is about to face the most serious opponent he's ever run against.
The Pattern Democrats Keep Ignoring
This is not the first time DeSantis has come to Pennsylvania to back a Republican gubernatorial candidate.
He rallied for Doug Mastriano in 2022.
Mastriano lost.
Democrats will point to that immediately, and that's fine – let them.
What they won't point to is the difference between Mastriano and Garrity.
Mastriano was a first-time statewide candidate with no financial infrastructure and a platform that alienated suburban voters.
Garrity won statewide – twice.
DeSantis isn't showing up out of loyalty.
He's opening his national donor network to a candidate serious Republicans believe can win – and Pennsylvania Democrats know it.
Here's what Shapiro can't afford anyone to notice.
He's been running for president since the day he took the oath as governor.
https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/2077422940157841459?s=20
Every national interview, every carefully crafted moderate pose, every Sunday show appearance – it's all about 2028.
A competitive governor's race doesn't just threaten his reelection.
It kills his national brand before it starts.
Shapiro is still the favorite.
But he's running scared enough that his party is already calling a decorated veteran "out of touch" for holding a fundraiser in their own city.
That's not confidence.
That's panic with a press release.
Sources:
- The Center Square, "DeSantis appears with Garrity for patriotic luncheon in Philadelphia," July 14, 2026.
- Washington Examiner, "DeSantis tests political strength in PA with fundraiser for Garrity," July 14, 2026.
- Fox43, "Here's 5 takeaways from President Trump's speech at the Innovation and Defense Summit in Carlisle," July 15, 2026.
- Fox News Digital, "Stacy Garrity launches Republican campaign for Pennsylvania governor," August 18, 2025.
- RealClearPolling, "2026 Pennsylvania Governor – Garrity vs. Shapiro," accessed July 2026.
