Shapiro: Speaker Johnson 'One of the Most Spineless, Weakest Leaders in America'

Friday on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe,” Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is “one of the most spineless, weakest leaders in America.”

Shapiro said, “I think what we are seeing quite clearly is that AI is moving far more rapidly than even many of the CEOs of these companies even imagined. They are losing control of their technology and many are issuing apocalyptic warnings. Now, I’m not a doomer, but I do believe that we need to get control of this immediately.”

He added, “I think if you think about this, this is a construct that we’re used to in America. You know, we don’t let a pharmaceutical company go develop a prescription drug and just give it to the American people. No, it has to go through the FDA process. We don’t let an airline manufacturer go and make an airplane and have it come off the assembly line and put a bunch of passengers on it and fly them somewhere. No, it’s got to go through an FAA approval process. We need a similar regulatory structure at the federal level. And the idea that we all know this, that the CEOs warned about these challenges, and Mike Johnson, who is frankly, one of the most spineless, weakest leaders in America, decides to adjourn the House of Representatives when members of both parties were calling on him to stay and try and work this through, it’s unconscionable. The fact that the president of the United States says we don’t need any regulation when the leaders of the industry are saying we do. That’s unconscionable. And I think it makes the American people less safe.”

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