Less than two months before the presidential election, the political circus arrived Tuesday in Philadelphia ahead of the first (and maybe only) debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Gray gates blocked off multiple blocks in Old City, forming a security perimeter around the National Constitution Center, where the candidates were set to spar.
SEPTA, in advance of the afternoon rush, closed the Market-Frankford Line’s 5th Street station, and buses that run along Market Street skipped several stops in the area. There were numerous road closures, and municipal offices in Center City also closed early.
On Tuesday afternoon, international media crews and political enthusiasts spread out across Independence Mall like picnickers in the hours leading up to the event. Larger demonstrations were expected later in the evening.
The debate began after Metro went to print Tuesday. For updates, go to metrophiladelphia.com.
A 20-foot IUD was inflated on the mall, drawing a group of interested onlookers. Democratic elected officials spoke in front of “Freeda Womb,” as the blow-up is known, about enshrining contraceptive access into state and federal law.
“I rushed to have my IUD inserted after Donald Trump was elected because I was concerned that I may not always have access to the contraceptive care I needed,” state Rep. Leanne Kruegger, of Delaware County said.
Kruegger is pushing for legislation in Harrisburg that would require insurance carriers in Pennsylvania to cover federally-approved contraceptives.
“We must keep people in office who are going to be able to fight for our rights, who know that people should have autonomy to make their healthcare decisions on their own,” said Rue Landau, one of four female City Council members who spoke at the news conference.
Meanwhile, Harris and Trump supporters had brief spats along the Market Street sidewalk. At one point, a man in a “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt repeatedly shouted “Kamala Harris is not my hero” from a moving car.
Law enforcement officers escorted a man away from a designated media area in the mall after he got through the gates and tried to disrupt the livestream of Real America’s News, a right-wing television station.
Jonathan Del Roccilli, a South Jersey resident, showed up with a handmade sign reading “We are Americans all,” a play on Civil War quote attributed to Ely S. Parker, Ulysses S. Grant’s military secretary.
“We’re a divided nation now. If you don’t believe one way, you’re evil. You’re going to hell,” Del Roccilli told Metro. “Nobody wants to focus on solving problems.”
