The presidential race took over parts of Center City Tuesday, making the National Constitution Center and the area surrounding it inaccessible ahead of the debate between former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris.
While many streets were blocked, the ones where people could congregate were full of people supporting or protesting a candidate, or just trying to bring the attention to a cause. Billy Penn’s Nick Kariuki spoke to a lot of them. Here are some of their stories …
Protests before the debate
In the afternoon before the debate, the lawn next to the Liberty Bell was packed with demonstrators, media and onlookers. A line of Philadelphia police on bicycles stood on Market Street blocking the crowd, with help from an 8-foot-high, unclimbable fence that was set up in the days before.
Among those there to show their support for Trump were Alix Paul and Christina Soll, who had been active volunteers for Robert Kennedy Jr.’s now-suspended presidential campaign in Bucks and Chester counties, respectively.
Paul said she was there to support unity between Trump and Kennedy. She was disappointed initially that Kennedy wouldn’t be on the ballot in November, she said, “but that sadness quickly turned into happiness when I saw the rally appearance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Trump’s rally and how amazing the crowd was towards him, how amazing that moment was, and I quickly knew that this is exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
Paul said that she feels Trump and Kennedy are aligned on many issues, such as free speech, immigration, inflation, and healthcare. She would like to see Trump’s environmental policies align more with Kennedy’s views.
Xavier Reyes, a native Venezuelan-American living in Northeast Philly, and his family were there to raise awareness about fallout from the recent election in Venezuela, where opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez fled to Spain after an arrest warrant was issued by Venezuela Prosecutor’s Office. He wanted to know where the candidates stood on ousting the incumbent regime of authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.
“We had an ally in Trump back in the 2018 presidential period,” Reyes said. “And unfortunately the fight we are doing, with the support of the Biden-Harris administration, it wasn’t enough pressure against Maduro’s regime.”
Protest with a local flavor
Away from Independence Mall, some Philly city workers protested on the corner of Fourth and Market streets. The group, made up of municipal and cultural workers, wasn’t there for a presidential candidate or issue, though. Instead, they were using the attention of the debate to protest Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration.
“We’re here today because all eyes are on Philadelphia today. There’s a huge debate and Mayor Parker … wants to show the world that Philadelphia is a great place to live and work, but we want people to know that as Philadelphia city workers, we’re having a hard time,” said Kate Goodman. “We’re struggling at work, we’re fighting for a better contract, and she’s been mistreating us.”
The protest comes four days after the City announced a one-year contract extension with ASCME DC47, which includes librarians, social workers, supervisors, and other city employees, that included a 4.4% salary increase, one-time bonuses of $1,400 and a $850,000 contribution to the union’s Health and Welfare Fund.
Across the street at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, Tali Reiner Brodetski, part of a small nonprofit called Hope for Israel Alliance, held up signs supporting Israeli hostages taken as part of the Oct. 6, 2023 surprise attack by the militant group Hamas, who either remain in captivity or have died in Hamas’ custody. She said the release of the hostages was a “bipartisan issue.”
“We have to put humanity at the forefront.” she said. “These are people’s lives that are at stake. They are dying. They are suffering and everybody needs to do as much as they can to get them out.”
A larger group of pro-Palestinian protesters who had intially gathered outside City Hall arrived at Independence Park at around 8 p.m. They passed in front of the National Constitution Center before continuing east on Market, then Chestnut.
Debate watch parties
Around 100 people gathered in the Lafayette South Room of the Kimpton Hotel Monaco for the Philadelphia Young Republicans’ watch party, one of many around the city and region.
The location was within walking distance of the National Constitution Center, where the debate was occurring. Former Senate candidates Dr. Mehmet Oz, Jeff Bartoz and George Bochetto, as well as state Reps. Torren Ecker and Thomas Kutz attended the event.
“The debate is right up the street from Independence Hall, we’re right across the street. I mean, you couldn’t ask for much more,” said Matt Lamorgese, chairman of the Philadelphia Young Republicans.
Jeff Howlett came all the way from Norfolk, Va., for the watch party and to see the Fox Nation lineup that showed up, which included former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Pete Hegseth, Rachel Campos-Duffy and Brian Brenberg.
“I hope Trump can hold his composure and not fall for the bait,” Howlett said before the debate started. “I really want to hear what Harris has to say, because she’s been hiding.”
During the debate, shouts of “liar,” and “shut up,” boos and groans were heard when Harris spoke. An audible groan filled the room as soon as Harris brought up Project 2025. Some boos were directed at the moderators when they fact-checked Trump on issues, including abortion and a discredited story that immigrants had eaten people’s pets in an Ohio town.
The only moment of cheering for Harris came when she suggested people should attend one of Trump’s rallies – though she said it was so they could see how people leave them early.
The whole room cheered and applauded for Trump after each of his answers.
“I think Donald Trump is presenting his case to the country,” Lamorgese said during the debate. “I think he’s highlighting the issues that are on Americans’ minds, rather than using baseless attacks and smears.”
During the break, the crowd was urged to hold up their signs and pose for a photo for the Trump campaign, and cheer “fight, fight, fight” together.
When the debate resumed, there were groans in the room when moderator David Muir asked Trump about his previous comments suggesting that Harris misled voters about her race. Those groans were followed by applause when Trump responded that he didn’t care about her racial identity. Antoine Guess, who was born and raised in Southwest Philadelphia, said that he liked the way that Trump handled the question.
“He didn’t placate to the story on race,” he said. “Because as an American and as a Black man, I’m tired of hearing it. It’s nauseating.”
By 10:30 p.m., some of the crowd conversations in the back of the room began to compete with the audio from the debate broadcast. Full attention returned, though, for Trump’s closing statement asking why Harris hasn’t already done the things she’s promising to do as president while she was vice president in the Biden administration,which received applause from most of the room.
After the debate, some of the people at the watch party said that, while their vote and confidence in Trump wasn’t changing, they were surprised by how well Harris had performed.
“I think Kamala definitely surprised me. I thought she was going to do a lot worse than she did,” Delaware County resident Tommy Feldman said. “I tended to see Trump ramble a lot … that didn’t shock me too much. But Kamala definitely exceeded what I expected of her.”
For Jennifer Knecht though, what makes Trump appealing to his supporters was still there.
“Kamala definitely took a lot of time to prepare and I think Trump brings a more honest perspective and he’s very charismatic,” she said. “And he maybe didn’t do a lot of preparation, but that’s what we really love about our candidate is that he brings the honesty, he brings the transparency and he brings the truth.”
