After a wave of advertisements and reports, after all the visits to the city and the region, and after the feeling that everything was already known, election day still ended with what seemed like a surprise: the undoubted re-election of Donald Trump, who will become the 47th president of the United States.
Both sides described this fierce campaign in apocalyptic terms – as the end of the United States, as the end of democracy. It was certain that no matter how it ended, some would feel great and others would fall into despair.
So we sent a few reporters out to the streets of Philadelphia on an unseasonably heated November afternoon to ask: How are you feeling?
“People voted for Trump instead of their country.”
Natasha Hudson, a 47-year-old tour guide who was voting Tuesday morning in South Philadelphia, was outside the Liberty Bell Center when we found her Wednesday. She is a military veteran and mother of dynamic duty soldiers.
“To see what this election brought, people voted for Trump, not their country. They basically wrote it. They also accepted the racism and misogyny in the United States towards their country,” she said. “It’s basically telling everyone that anyone who has passed a civil rights audit when it comes to the rights of women and people of color is being erased. It doesn’t mean anything now because of what’s going on.
Hudson also said she thought many people who supported Trump would find that the policies Trump proposed and supported would have an adverse impact on them.
–Nick Kariuki
“It’s hard to understand”
Erin Kramer, a 33-year-old nurse, was walking her dog in Washington Square Park on Wednesday. She voted in person in Chester County.
“It definitely feels like a big weight on your shoulders,” she said, realizing how the election turned out. “I always walk around Philadelphia feeling, ‘This is where the Founding Fathers walked, we have a great responsibility, and I’m glad we’re still a swing state.’ “
Kramer stated that she was shocked by what she perceived as the divergence of thoughts and feelings between inner-city and suburban residents.
“The fact that people with similar origins, similar education and who feel so differently cannot talk, it certainly affects us,” she said. “I think being a woman and being a woman working in health care is what I see you taking care of patients downtown. Your ability to think about other people seems so different and very challenging to understand.
–Nick K
“I think he’s the perfect person to bring everyone together.”
Anthony Renzulli runs his cigar salon, Renzulli’s Twin Smoke Shoppe, on Tasker Street in South Philadelphia. Asked Thursday how people working there felt about the election, the company’s owner said: “We’re excited.”
“Our economy is in trouble. There [are] wars in the world that I don’t think will happen, and I think Trump will restore order,” Renzulli said.
He also believes that in recent years, American policies have “taken God and morality out of the country.”
“I think he’s the perfect person to bring everyone together,” Renzulli said. “Even though there are a lot of disagreements here and there, I think Trump is the one who can stop it all.”
– Kiersten Tate
“Love Conquers All”
Civil rights lawyer Alison Rogers, 34, walked into LOVE Park on Wednesday wearing a Harris-Walz hat, a shirt that read “Philly Jaws for Kamala” and two signs: one that read “Heartbroken, Hardworking, Please, Free Hugs” and second: “compassion saves lives.”
As soon as she raised the sign above her head, she started crying.
“I’ve been an advocate for 25 years, and I’ve been canvassing the streets of Philadelphia for two months, and I’ve met a lot of people and learned a lot of great lessons. I know that such defeats can be overwhelming and depressing, so I want to show that we must get back up and keep fighting,” Rogers said. “The fight for justice is a long battle full of hard work and heartbreak, but love conquers all.”
Within minutes, a half-dozen people, mostly teenage adults and teenagers, approached Rogers. She said “I love you” to everyone.
Rogers said she voted for Harris and worked as a poll watcher at a North Philadelphia mosque. She said she met a “beautiful community” that was working to “protect private, honest and free voices.”
“I have no doubt that these elections were free, or at least as free as possible in this country,” she said. “It was an inspiring, energizing day, and I’m here to give that fuel to the rest of us as we try to advocate for compassion and dignity – even as we lose democracy in January.”
Rogers explained that she believes democracy has been “going backwards” for years. “The work is now out in the streets so we can show kindness to each other,” she said.
–Celia Bernhardt
“I know what this country is about. It’s about business.
John Gary (58) and Arnold Paramore (55) are chefs and collaborators. They both voted for Harris, and at Dilworth Park on Wednesday, they reflected on their feelings about Trump’s victory and the reasons behind it.
“I voted [for Harris] because he intends to do good things. You know, she’s going to do good things for the city. He is going to help people by giving them housing vouchers,” Gary said. A West Philly resident fears a Trump presidency in the name of democracy in the U.S. and elsewhere. “I think he and Putin want to rule the world. They want control over the entire world, the two of them. To hell with doing things for the community, Blacks and Latinos, they just want to rule the world and be dictators.
As a black man, Gary also believes that some black male voters had a problem with Harris’ history as a prosecutor and her marriage to Doug Emhoff, a white Jewish man.
Paramore, who volunteered for Harris’ campaign, said he thinks male voters generally don’t want a woman as president.
“She is a victim of gender. That’s all. It wasn’t about her husband or anything,” said Paramore, who is from North Philadelphia. “She’s a woman and they can’t see [themselves] calling her Mrs. President.” Paramore also said stimulus checks issued during the pandemic made Trump attractive to other voters.
When asked how he felt about the election results, the chef replied: “It is what it is. I know what this country is about. It’s about business.”
– Keirsten T.
“Democrats really couldn’t get their act together.”
Carl and Susan Frey, both 72 and living in Washington Square, voted by mail two weeks ago. They said they felt depressed and depressed.
“There is a saying that a country gets the leader it deserves. And in a way, I think that’s what happened in this case,” Carl said. “The Democrats really haven’t been able to get their act together… It’s unfortunate. We’ve made it through four years once, we’ll do it again. The country will survive, but I’m not very happy about it.”
Susan was not positive about the future.
“I don’t know anything about it. “I’m worse than him because I’ve always watched the electoral process and the news, and Trump has been around way too long and his allies will be around way too long,” she said. “I just feel very sad about my family, my children, my grandchildren, I mean this guy, he says, things that children shouldn’t hear, and this is our president. I don’t like it.”
–Nick K
Against Trump, but I can’t imagine a female president
Taz, 22, who declined to give his full name on Wednesday, said he had voted, but not for any of the presidential candidates. Instead, he wrote on his own behalf. He said he hates Trump for both his social and economic policies, but doesn’t see Harris as president because of her gender.
“There are certain qualities of a citizen that one must have to lead a country. She had intelligence, she had it all. But what she didn’t have — she lacked masculinity,” Taz said, further arguing that while Harris was smart, she wouldn’t have been able to react decisively in a worst-case scenario like a nuclear attack.
Taz also mentioned that other countries may view Harris as tender because she is a woman. He later added: “This place of First Lady is always golden and safe for them because it is the emotional support of a man.”
Taz, however, said he is very worried about a Trump presidency. “He just doesn’t care about anyone else but himself, if you really think about it. It prepares us for the end of the world. The lower class is deprived of all our basic rights. All fundamental rights of women.”
–Celia B
“The Rights She Tried to Defend”
Eli Velazquez, 44, a liquor store employee originally from Mexico but who has lived in Philadelphia for 23 years, expressed disappointment with Wednesday’s results. She said she was not eligible to vote, but if she could, she would vote for Harris.
Velazquez said she supported Harris because of “the rights she tried to defend and ensure for everyone here in the country.” When asked how she felt about the coming four years, Velazquez said it was a challenging question.
“The beginnings will be difficult. But let’s hope things get back to normal for everyone. I really can’t say much,” she said. “I’m processing everything that’s going on right now.”
–Celia B
A non-voter who encourages people not to vote
Point Breeze musician Taqee Basir was hanging out with friends in Rittenhouse Square on Wednesday. He did not vote this year and is not satisfied with the emphasis on the presidential election in American politics.
“Donald Trump won, but ultimately I think people need to adopt a fundamental way of thinking about everything. And since we’re talking about voting, you need to start locally first. Many of your sheriffs, judges and city councils made up of people who operate right where you live are kind of dictating the initial foundations of how you even come into this or how it affects you,” Basir said.
“I think this is the basics of politics [are] omitted [by] people, especially with the voter, because the same sense of urgency is not being leveraged with local influencers. This is probably more important because it starts where you are and actually allows you to provide a little more detail because you live in a different state.”
The musician also believes that Trump’s presidency has “got to the heart of what this country is,” saying, “It’s not a country, it’s a corporation.”
–Kirsten T
