Philadelphia and Pittsburgh form the two traditional Democratic strongholds in swing state Pennsylvania. But in the final weekend before the 2024 US presidential vote, groups of noisy Republican campaigners spread throughout Philadelphia city centre engaging in sometimes vitriolic discussions.
"I thought he was going to beat me up," says Ben. Sporting a bright red jacket and holding a gigantic blue hand with the index finger pointing upwards, he was standing next to 15th Street, a central artery in Philadelphia that passes in front of the iconic town hall.
A motorist had driven close to him, he says, and made an obscene gesture. But in the end he just sped away in his pick-up, and nothing happened.
Ben is approached by an elderly man. "Finally somebody normal here," he says.
"This town is full of liberals."
A discussion follows about the Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney
"Harris is a drunk," says the older of the two men. "She's cooperating with that traitor Liz Cheney.
Claims
"She's a warmonger," he adds. "Look at all the wars her father got us into. Iraq, Afghanistan. The list is endless."
Cheney, who worked with George W Bush between 2001 and 2009, belonged to the same Republican party as Donald Trump.
At the other side of the town hall, half a dozen people have gathered. "Do you notice that Republicans are the only ones with the American flag?" one scowls.
"Democrats just have the rainbow flag."
Their leader, a Chinese-American woman, who gives her name as Stephanie, says that they are here to "wake up America."
"Why?" she asks the few passers-by who look rather shocked. "Because too many people are still sleeping while Trump is fighting for them.
"They hate him. But that is because they don’t know the truth."
Reason
The reason, according to Stephanie: they follow the mainstream media who have been bought by globalists and the deep state which she deems the enemies of the people.
Her words echo the standard rhetoric of the Trump campaign.
John, an older white man who is holding a large, American flag, declares: "Trump is going to win the elections. This will bring some changes in the country that will affect the vast majority of the American people."
Ben is optimistic too. "This is supposed to be Dems country, but I feel it is a little less so now."
Stephanie says she is convinced that Trump is going to win in a landslide.
"But only if they are not going to rig the elections,' she says.
"If they rig, we won't know the result," she adds. "But I think that this time, it is too big to rig."
