Democrats are rubbing Donald Trump’s scorn for Philadelphia in his face ahead of the GOP nominee's highly anticipated first and possibly only debate against Kamala Harris on Tuesday.
The Democratic National Committee is set to plaster the city’s downtown with billboards highlighting insults the former president has hurled at Philly, the political party tells the Daily Beast exclusively.
The signs refer to Trump’s 2020 attempts to undermine voters in Pennsylvania's largest city and his assertion during a debate that year against Joe Biden that “bad things happen in Philadelphia.” Trump, who has a habit of insulting urban areas that vote blue, called the city “one of the most corrupt election places in the United States” after he lost to Biden.
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The 10 billboards—which follow a weekend of flyover banners at battleground state football games—are going up Monday evening along the main thoroughfares that Trump and his entourage must take to get to the debate venue, the National Constitution Center, where the high-stakes live event will be hosted by ABC News.
The billboard gaslighting also focuses on the GOP’s “Project 2025” agenda, quoting Trump himself on whether he would become a dictator if elected in 2024.
Trump assured Fox News viewers late last year that he would not be an authoritarian despot—“except for day one”—if he becomes president a second time. Another of the Democrats’ billboards lists the dangers of the ultraconservative manifesto, including the potential for boundless presidential powers.
Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state that could well determine the winner in November. The candidates are running neck-and-neck there—as they are nationally, too—with Trump and Harris both notching 50 percent in the latest CBS News/YouGov poll. Democrats will need voters to turn out in Philadelphia if they want to win, so it’s no surprise they’re targeting the city.
“Donald Trump’s vicious attacks against Philadelphia are emblematic of his attempts to sow chaos and discord in our democracy and hold onto power at all costs,” the DNC’s deputy communications director, Abhi Rahman, said a statement to the Daily Beast. “Philadelphia, the cradle of liberty, soundly rejected Trump in 2020. When Trump attacks Philadelphia, he’s attacking Philly’s history, communities, and values.”
