Media Dogpiles on Shapiro’s Taxpayer-Funded Self-Promotion

Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to be in the spotlight, but he also wants to keep his misdeeds in the dark. All the while, the governor expects taxpayers to finance the costly endeavor of managing his political brand.

Fortunately, the media has started to take notice of Shapiro’s publicly funded vanity and opaqueness.

The governor’s obsession with his image has reached a fevered pitch, all thanks to his robust communications and public relations teams—and the taxpayers paying their exorbitant salaries and benefits.

The Commonwealth Foundation first revealed this story about Shapiro’s publicly funded vanity back in March. After investigating public records, the organization exposed the hefty taxpayer-funded price tag for the governor’s nine-person “Digital Strategy” team, tasked with cultivating Shapiro’s sprawling social media presence.

The Philadelphia Inquirer—often soft on the governor—ran with this story. “In total, Shapiro’s communications, press, and social media staff cost taxpayers nearly $3 million per year,” writes Vincent DiFonzo in The Inquirer. “Twelve of these staffers make more than $100,000 per year, with some earning as much as $190,000.”

The Inquirer also compared Shapiro’s self-promotion team to that of his predecessor, former Gov. Tom Wolf:

The budget for the governor’s office as a whole increased 68% in Shapiro’s first 2½ years in office, from just below $7 million during Wolf’s last year in office to $11.6 million in the latest state budget. Shapiro in February proposed a further increase to $12 million for 2026.

This team generates and posts hundreds of videos featuring Shapiro. During a five-month window, the governor’s team has produced more than 162 videos on TikTok. Shapiro’s prolific video posting of content widely critiqued as cringeworthy has earned him the nickname “TikTok Josh.”

“As bad as Mr. Shapiro’s social media strategy is, what’s worse is how he funds it with taxpayer money,” writes Erik Telford, senior vice president of public affairs at the Commonwealth Foundation, in the Washington Times.

Following the original reporting in March, several other major outlets have picked up the story.

Newsmax covered Commonwealth Foundation’s efforts that exposed Shapiro “spending a boatload of taxpayer money on social media,”

“Liberal lawmakers are going viral for all the wrong reasons,” Fox News tweeted, featuring Shapiro as the story’s featured image.

“Shapiro has used his social media to boost his profile with cringy TikTok-style videos—all the rage among Democrats,” writes Jarrett Stepman of The Daily Signal.

“So very hep,” writes Jack Fowler of National Review in his article titled “Josh Shapiro Wants You to Know He’s Groovy and Cool.”

The story followed the coattails of another incident involving Shapiro’s love affair with social media. Last July, the governor hosted a taxpayer-funded “Democracy Summer Camp” in Philadelphia for about 50 nationwide digital content creators. One attendee said it was “about how to promote the election this November [and] talk about how we can combat misinformation.” The administration failed to disclose the event’s agenda, presenters, participants, and program costs.

This isn’t an isolated event for Shapiro. The governor has a troubling track record regarding his lack of transparency. The Commonwealth Foundation has maintained a timeline that highlights some of his shadiest activities.

As a public servant, Shapiro cannot overhype himself while also hiding his administration’s flaws. Moreover, the governor has more pressing issues, such as saving Pennsylvania kids from failing schools, unleashing the commonwealth’s energy sector, and balancing the state budget (which is almost a month past deadline as of this writing).

Time to log off and—in your words—get stuff done, Mr. Governor. Pennsylvanians deserve better.