The media has been hyper-focused on who Vice President Kamala Harris will pick as her running mate, and multiple signs in recent days have fueled a speculative consensus that her choice, which is expected to be announced early next week, will be Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Chief among those signs was a potentially prematurely leaked video on Friday from the Philadelphia mayor that appeared to confirm and congratulate Shapiro as the selection, according to Fox News.

Of course, the Harris campaign has denied that a pick was already made and a debate has ensued over whether the mayor's video was a leaked congratulatory announcement or merely an aggressive endorsement of the governor to be the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Philly mayor seems to declare Gov. Shapiro as VP Harris' running mate

In an X post on Friday from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker's official account, she wrote, "Proud to be back with so many leaders from across our region supporting @KamalaHarris for President and @JoshShapiroPA for VP! We are One CITY, One REGION, and ONE Commonwealth United!"

The video, which bore all of the classic hallmarks of a traditional campaign ad, featured Mayor Parker and other local Philly leaders expressing their support for VP Harris and Gov. Shapiro as if that particular Democratic ticket had already been announced.

Proud to be back with so many leaders from across our region supporting @KamalaHarris for President and @JoshShapiroPA for VP! We are One CITY, One REGION, and ONE Commonwealth United! @PADems @PhillyDems @Joanna4PA @PADemsChair @IBEW98 @RepHarris @PALaborers pic.twitter.com/Rh1ojbRjcr

— Cherelle Parker (@PeopleforParker) August 2, 2024

A premature leak or just an aggressive endorsement?

There was immediate speculation that the video was a mistakenly posted early leak, which seemed to be confirmed by prominent local political journalist Ernest Owens, who wrote in a Friday afternoon X post, "Philly political sources have told me that a staffer connected with Mayor Cherelle Parker's team accidentally posted the video today. The video was scheduled for Monday ... after VP Kamala Harris was expected to announce her pick. It's Josh Shapiro, y'all."

He added that he was hearing about a "firestorm" in the aftermath of the mayor's post, which he suggested was an "understatement" about the explosive reaction to what had occurred.

Meanwhile, The Independent reported that, according to the mayor's office, the video was intended as nothing more than a show of support for Gov. Shapiro and encouragement for Harris to pick him as her running mate.

Nevertheless, the video was interpreted by many as the latest sign that Shapiro had already been chosen, with some of the other indicators being that Harris is scheduled to announce her pick and kick off a multi-state series of rallies with an event in Philadelphia and that Shapiro had canceled previously scheduled fundraiser events in New York over the weekend, among other things.

Decision has not yet been made, campaign insists

If VP Harris has indeed already made her choice, her campaign has done a good job of going through the motions to appear as though the selection remained undecided.

Fox News noted that the campaign said in a statement, "Vice President Harris has directed her team to begin the process of vetting potential running mates. That process has begun in earnest and we do not expect to have additional updates until the Vice President announces who will be serving as her running mate and as the next Vice President of the United States."

At the same time, Reuters reported on Sunday that Harris was meeting with at least three of the top contenders on her reported shortlist for in-person interviews at the vice president's residence in Washington D.C.

That included Gov. Shapiro, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Another purported contender to be Harris' running mate, Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, reportedly met with her for around 90 minutes on Friday, though it is unknown what was discussed.