Protesters Greet Trump in Philadelphia
Donald Trump took his first trip aboard Air Force One as president to Philadelphia on Wednesday, but his reception in the City of Brotherly Love was anything about adoring. While People Magazine reports that Trump was awed and impressed by his inaugural trip aboard the presidential aircraft, other news sources report that countless protests have popped up around the city in response to his visit – and that some residents had some choice words and gestures for the presidential motorcade.
A crowd gathered on 13th Street to protest Donald Trump’s policy on healthcare as the president met with GOP officials in Center City. Image: Philly Voice
Trump is in town for the Republican Party’s annual policy retreat. It is the first time in over ten years that a sitting president has joined his party for such an event. The GOP has spent the last two days holed up behind closed doors at the Hyatt hotel in Center City, discussing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and possible replacements for it.
Meanwhile, protesters gathered in pockets around the city to make perfectly clear what they thought about America’s new president. Hundreds marched through the streets on Thursday morning, starting at Thomas Paine plaza and moving towards an intersection near the Hyatt. “We’re trying to bring awareness to how important health care is,” Salewa Ogunmefun, political director from the advocacy group One Pennsylvania, told PHiladelphia Magazine. “It’s not politics. It’s about survival for the people here in Philadelphia.” Other protesters insisted that they were not there to protest Trump himself, but his promise to eliminate Obamacare.
On Wednesday night, members of the LGBTQ community and their allies gathered for a “queer rager” meant to draw attention to the fact that many queer individuals don’t have healthcare, and will continue to suffer if Trump takes away the ACA. Police formed barricades around the Hyatt, not allowing protesters to get too close, but it sounds like the protest was peaceful.
People Magazine also reported that, when Trump’s motorcade rolled through the streets, he was greeted in true Philadelphia fashion: with jeers, downturned thumbs, and upraised middle fingers.
