As countless Philadelphia police meandered in front of the National Constitution Center – host to the first 2024 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump – the surrounding Center City streets were covered with digital signs and placards advertising the candidates. The debate location itself was mostly obscured behind ten-to-twelve foot metal barriers, under the jurisdiction of the Secret Service. A small group of Trump supporters congregated at the lawn across from the debate, flanked by news anchors setting up their shots and shock jocks livestreaming.
Teen Vogue spoke to the Philadelphians outside the debate, unable to get into the auditorium where democracy was underway, making their own in the city streets.
Just hours before the debate started, hundreds of protesters against the war on Gaza set off from City Hall, condemning both candidates. Many of the chants were focused on Harris, likely because Philly is a Democratic stronghold. They certainly had smoke for Trump, too: “Trump, Trump, you’re a liar/you’re gonna set the world on fire.” Generally speaking, the chants were equal opportunity critical: “Biden Harris Trump in Philly/none are welcome in our city.”
Kiki, 6, joined the march with her grandmother.
“Tell them why you’re out here,” Kiki’s grandmother prompted.
“For the kids,” Kiki responded.
“What’s happening to the children?” asked her grandmother.
“They’re killing them,” said Kiki. Her grandmother asked if she knew why. “Because they are Palestinians.”
A speaker with the Philly Palestine Coalition gave a speech a few blocks into the procession toward the debate location. “These candidates are not ‘lesser of two evils,’” the speaker intoned, noting Harris’s recent statement to CNN that she would not change Biden’s ongoing policy of providing arms to Israel, and Trump recently calling for student protesters to be deported.
“They want you to believe that Kamala is ‘brat,’” said the speaker. “In 2020, she said young people are so dumb.” Though that clip has been taken out of context, the line got yells and hollers from the crowd, which, while largely masked and cloaked in keffiyehs, seemed heavily populated with college students. There are several schools within city limits, including Temple, the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel, with more in nearby suburbs, including Swarthmore, Villanova, and Rutgers's Camden, New Jersey campus.
While there were few mentions of young people during the debate itself (Trump bringing up student debt; the final question on climate change), the protest speaker framed the subject of Palestine as especially potent for young people and college students in particular. “Over the past year, it was the students that had the power,” the Philly Palestine Coalition representative said, to yells from the crowd. “They have let these universities arrest us.” Protesters called in response, “Shame!”
“How many of the college students here are in $100,000 of debt?” the speaker said to jeers. “Did that change with Biden? Did that change with Trump?”
President Biden has wiped out about $160 billion of student debt with forgiveness programs, but many student advocates say that's not enough, given that the national student debt total is pegged at some $1.7 trillion.
The protest eventually proceeded past the National Constitution Center. At one corner a group of union city workers were gathered, standing in front of posters calling for living wages and a fair contract. One with a doodled crab read, “Crab fries don’t pay my salary!” — presumably a reference to the crab fries from local chain Chickie’s and Pete’s.
Angelica, 24, a city public library worker who asked to only give their first name, was with their union colleagues flyering about their demands for a fair contract, including a $50,000 salary floor. “The blue collar union has not had a contract for almost three months now, and we're still expected to work,” they explained. The union members were especially frustrated, since Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker recently gave white-collar city union members a raise; the blue-collar union, which was the one protesting, includes “sanitation, streets, water, all these things that people need to live — and we're not treated with dignity,” Angelica told Teen Vogue.
“We don't really care if we upset Mayor Parker or if we upset the Democratic Party, because we're not trying to get a job in the Democratic Party,” Angelica said, when asked why they chose this particular date to hold their protest. “We're trying to keep our jobs that we care about and take care of the city.”
When asked their thoughts on the presidential ticket, Angelica said they were “happier” but “not thrilled” to have a new option in Harris.
“I think the fact that we haven't really had a say in who represents us is sh*tty. It kind of mirrors how we're not having a say here, which is why we decided to do it today,” Angelica said. “I still believe that voting is important, I'm still gonna exercise my right, but this is my second presidential election, and both times, I've just felt really disheartened, and I am tired of it. Ever since I've been cognizant of voting for president, it's always been the lesser of two evils, and that's not what America deserves.”
What seemed like hundreds of cops were also on the scene, largely sitting around on their phones, or watching the debate screen at the outdoor bar across from the event. According to reports, about half a dozen pro-Palestine protesters were ultimately arrested after refusing to leave a sit-in.
Alex, 20, a student at the University of Pennsylvania who is being referred to with a pseudonym to protect their identity, stood with a group of friends, watching from across the street as the riot police and bike cops finally cleared out after the arrests. Alex told Teen Vogue that they and their fellow students often come to protests in the area, whether against a plan for a new Sixers stadium in Philly’s Chinatown, or supporting an effort near UPenn to protect affordable housing despite the gentrification that the university has driven in West Philadelphia — called “Penntrification.” The Saturday before the debate, a large protest against the proposed Sixers arena was held in Center City. “We always come out to every single protest, because all our liberation struggles are interconnected,” said Alex.
As the arrested protesters were led away, Alex added, “I think it's pretty important to recognize that all of us f*cking hate Trump, obviously. But Kamala is just as complicit... So keep that in mind when you're voting.” The message echoed another chant from the protest: “Come November, we’ll remember.” We’ll have to wait and see what happens at the polls.
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