From ‘heartbroken’ to ‘elated’: Philly reacts to the election

After the waves of commercials and coverage, and all the visits to the city and the region, and the sense that everything was known, Election Day still ended with what seemed like a surprise: a no-doubt-about-it re-election of Donald Trump, who will become the 47th president of the United States.

The hard-fought campaign had been described in apocalyptic terms by both sides — as the end of the United States, as the end of democracy. It was certain that no matter how it ended, some people would feel great and some would despair.

So we sent several reporters out on the streets of Philadelphia on an unseasonably warm November afternoon, with a question: How are you feeling?

‘People voted Trump in over their country’

Natasha Hudson, a 47-year-old tour guide who voted Tuesday morning in South Philly, was next to the Liberty Bell Center when we found her Wednesday. She is a military veteran and parent of active duty military members.

“To see what this election has done, people voted Trump in over their country. They pretty much wrote him in. They also accepted racism and misogyny in the United States over their country,” she said. “It’s pretty much letting everyone know that everyone who went through Civil Rights, when it comes to women’s rights, people of color’s rights, it’s being erased. It means nothing now because of what’s going on.” 

Hudson also said that she feels that many who supported Trump will find that they will be adversely affected by the policies Trump proposed and they supported. 

–Nick Kariuki

‘Hard to comprehend’

Erin Kramer, a 33-year-old nurse practitioner, was walking her dog Wednesday in Washington Square Park. She voted in person in Chester County.

 “It’s definitely like a heavy weight on your shoulders,” she said of the realization of how the election turned out. “I always walk around Philadelphia feeling like, ‘This is where the Founding Fathers walked, we have so much responsibility, and I’m glad that we’re continuing to be a swing state.’ ”

Kramer said she was shocked by what she perceived as the discrepancy of thoughts and feelings between people in the inner city and the suburbs.

“To have people that have similar backgrounds, similar education, and feel so differently not be able to have a conversation, it just definitely taking a toll on us,” she said “I think being a woman and being a woman in healthcare, what I see taking care of patients in the inner city, it’s your ability to think about other people that seems so different, and it’s very hard to comprehend.”

–Nick K.

‘I think he’s the perfect person to get everybody united’

Anthony Renzulli operates his cigar lounge, Renzulli’s Twin Smoke Shoppe, on Tasker Street in South Philly. When asked Thursday about the feelings of the people who work there regarding the election, the business owner said, “We’re elated.”

“Our economy’s in trouble. There [are] wars in the world which I don’t think would be happening, and I think Trump’s gonna put everything back in order,” Renzulli said. 

He also believes that American politics “took God and morality out of the country” in recent years.

“I think he’s the perfect person to get everybody united,” Renzulli said. “Even though there’s a lot of disagreement here and there, I think Trump’s the one that can stop all that.”

– Kiersten Tate

‘Love conquers all’ 

34-year-old civil rights attorney Alison Rogers walked into LOVE Park Wednesday with a Harris-Walz hat, a shirt that read “Philly jawns for Kamala,” and two signs: one reading “heartbroken, hardworking, here, free hugs,” and the other “compassion saves lives.” 

She began to cry as soon as she held the sign above her head. 

“I’ve been doing advocacy work for 25 years and I’ve been canvassing the streets of Philly for two months, and I met a lot of people and learned a lot of great lessons. And I know that losses like this can be suffocating and defeating, and I want to show that we have to keep picking up and going on,” Rogers said. “The fight for equity is a long battle of hard work and heartbreak, and love conquers all.” 

Half a dozen people, mostly young adults and teenagers, came up to hug Rogers over the course of a few minutes. She said “love you” to each one. 

Rogers said she voted for Harris and worked as a poll watcher at a mosque in North Philly. She said she met a “beautiful community” who worked to “protect private, fair and free votes” in the process. 

“I have no doubt in my mind that this election was free, or at least as free as it could be in this country,” she said. “t was an inspiring, refueling day and I’m here to give that fuel to the rest of us who are going to try to stand for compassion and dignity — even as we lose our democracy in January.”

Rogers elaborated that she believes democracy has been “in retrograde” for years. “The work is now in the streets for us to remain kind 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 coworkers. Both voted for Harris and reflected on their feelings Wednesday about Trump’s win and the reasons behind it in Dilworth Park.

“I voted [for Harris] because she’s going to do good things. You know, she’s going to do good things for the city. She’s going to help people with the housing vouchers,” Gary said. The West Philly resident dreads a Trump presidency for the sake of democracy in the U.S. and elsewhere. “Him and Putin, I think they want to run the world. They want control over the whole world, the two of them. The heck with doing things for the community and Black people and Hispanics, they just want to run the world and be dictators.”

As a Black man, Gary also believes that some Black male voters had an issue with Harris’s history as a prosecutor and her marriage to Doug Emhoff, a Jewish white man. 

Paramore, who volunteered for Harris’ campaign, said he believed that male voters generally did not want a female president.

“She’s a victim of gender. That’s it. It wasn’t about her husband or anything else,” said Paramore, who is from North Philly.  “She’s a woman, and they can’t see [themselves] calling her Madam President.” Paramore also claimed the stimulus checks that were issued during the pandemic made Trump appealing to other voters. 

When asked about his feelings on the election results, the chef said, “It is what it is. I know what this country is about. It’s about business.”

– Keirsten T.

‘The Democrats really couldn’t put their act together’

Carl and Susan Frey, both 72 years old and living in Washington Square, voted by mail two weeks ago. They said they were feeling depressed and sad.

“There’s a saying that a country gets the leader that it deserves. And, in a way, I think that’s what’s happened here,” Carl said. “The Democrats really couldn’t put their act together … It’s unfortunate. We muddled through four years once before, we’ll do it again. The country will survive, but I’m not not too happy about the whole thing.”

Susan was less optimistic for the future.

“I don’t know about that. I’m worse than him because I always watched the election process and the news and Trump has been around way too long and his fellow allies are going to be around way too long,” she said “I’m just very sad for my family, my children, my grandchildren, I mean, this guy, he says, things children shouldn’t hear, and this is our president. I don’t like it.”

–Nick K.

Against Trump, but can’t envision a female President

Taz, 22, who declined to give his full name Wednesday, said that he voted but not for either presidential candidate. He wrote in his own name instead. He said he hated Trump for both his social and economic policies, but could not see Harris as president because of her gender. 

“There’s certain aspects of a resident that you have to have in order to lead a country. She had the smarts, she had all of it. But what she didn’t have — she was lacking masculinity,” Taz said, going on to argue that even though Harris was intelligent, she would not be able to react decisively in a worst-case scenario such as a nuclear attack. 

Taz also cited the potential for other countries to view Harris as weak because she was a woman. He later added, “That First Lady spot is always golden and secure for them, because that is a man’s emotional support.” 

Taz said he was very worried, though, about a Trump presidency. “He just don’t care about nobody but himself, if you really think about it. He’s preparing us for the end of the world. For the lower class, he’s taking away all of our basic rights. All the women’s basic rights.” 

–Celia B.

‘The rights she was trying to defend’

Eli Velazquez, 44, a liquor store worker who hails from Mexico but has lived in Philadelphia for 23 years, expressed disappointment about the results Wednesday. She said she is not eligible to vote, but would have voted for Harris if she could. 

Velazquez said she supported Harris because of “the rights she was trying to defend and put into the country for everybody here.” When asked how she felt about the next four years, Velazquez said it was a tough question. 

“The beginning is going to be hard. But hopefully everything gets back to being good for everybody. I can’t really say much,” she said. “I’m just, right now, processing whatever is going on.”  

–Celia B.

A non-voter who encourages non-voting

Taqee Basir, a musician from Point Breeze, was hanging out with friends Wednesday in Rittenhouse Square. He didn’t vote this year and feels unsatisfied with the emphasis on presidential elections in American politics.

“Donald Trump won, but ultimately, I think people need to get to a fundamental way of thinking about everything. And since we’re talking about voting, you should start locally first. A lot of your sheriffs and judges and city councils of people that run exactly where you live, they kind of dictate the beginning foundations of how you even enter it, or how it affects you,” Basir said. 

“I think that the fundamentals of politics [are] missed [by] people, especially with the voter, because the same sense of urgency is not used for the local influencer outcome. And it’s probably more important because it starts where you are, and it actually gets you to be a little bit more detailed since you live in a different state.”

The musician also believes a Trump presidency “got to the root of what this country is,” saying, “It’s not a country, it’s a corporation.”

–Kiersten T.

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