Philadelphia is known as a time-tested stomping ground for the Democratic Party — along with having the highest concentration of Black folks in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump held a rally at Philly’s Temple University Saturday night in an attempt to change the former.
But that’s probably not happening: Trump has a shaky past with Philadelphia. He didn’t win the popular vote in the 2016 or 2020 elections. In 2018, he uninvited the city’s NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles, to the White House after many of the Super Bowl champions declined Trump’s invitation. The former president has also insinuated that “bad things” happen in the mostly Black city.
Also, the Democratic National Committee is not taking Trump’s attempts to sway Black voters lightly. Posters and billboards were placed all around Philly identifyiing how another Trump term would be detrimental for Black folks.
A billboard set up near the Temple campus reminded people that Trump “was a disaster for Black Americans” and that “If Trump wins, Black families lose.” It also read that Trump “left [office] with nearly 10% Black unemployment” and will “sabotage Obamacare, [pass] tax breaks for the rich, and slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”
Trump denied all of those claims during the rally, saying “the people of our country are looking for hope, whether they’re white, brown, Black or anything else,” which he claims to represent.
Dave McCormick — the Pennsylvania Republican nominee for Senate looking to unseat Democratic Sen. Bob Casey — joined Trump for the rally. In true Trump fashion, he gave a special shout out to local Philly rapper OT7 Quanny during his speech. Quanny, who has been seen rocking a MAGA hat, hung out with the former president before and after the rally.
Temple’s president, Richard M. Englert, stated that the Liacouras Center — the college venue where Trump’s event took place — is “managed and operated by a third-party firm.” In that same statement, he also explained that Temple didn’t covering any costs from the rally.
“The presence of any speaker on campus is not an endorsement from Temple University, just as the views expressed by any speaker do not necessarily reflect those of the university’s administration, faculty, staff, or students,” Englert said. “Temple will continue to be a space for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas integral to the election process.”
Pennsylvania is a key battleground state for Biden and Trump during this year’s election. In 2020, Biden won the Commonwealth — Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — which helped him secure the presidency.
This latest stunt to win Black voters comes on the heels of an attempt to do the same thing at a church in Detroit last week, where Trump launched his “Black Voter Coalition Group” aiming to rally Black support, according to NBC.
In addition to the group’s formation, Trump is hitting the road to garner support in historically Black cities, including Philadelphia. His attempts make sense considering Black people were key to Biden’s win in 2020. Only 12 percent of the Black vote going to Trump then, according to the Roper Center.
Trump’s rally comes less than a week before he is set to face Biden in their first Presidential debate Tuesday (June 27.)
