Joe Biden held a campaign rally in one of the largest cities in the nation Wednesday, and failed to fill the college gym. Biden and Kamala Harris appeared at Girard College, a predominantly Black boarding school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The venue appeared to be less than half full, with a large portion of the crowd made up of the press, according to a photo posted by the RNC on X.
Harry Sisson, a paid Democrat operative who actively promotes Biden on social media, suggested that the above image portrayed the rally before it started, and posted a cropped photo that made the room appear fuller.
“Biden had a packed house in Philly today. Glad you got there early!” Sisson commented in response to the RNC’s post.
ALX, a conservative social media influencer corrected Sisson’s disinformation, pointing out that his photo was taken from the press riser in the middle of the gym.
“You can tell by the cameras set up right in front of the shot,” he said, noting that the number of bunting flags on the right side indicate that the photo was cropped. In the uncropped photo, there are 14 bunting flags visible past the blue Biden/Harris sign, and only six visible in the cropped photo.
By comparison, former President Donald Trump recently drew a crowds of approximately 100,000 at a rally in New Jersey, and up to 10,000 at a rally in the deep blue Bronx.
Trump reacted to Biden’s anemic crowd on Truth Social: “Only the 39 Kids that had to be there showed up!” he quipped.
Biden’s lackluster showing in Philly, a city of 1.6 million people and a Democrat stronghold, is one indication among many that his campaign for reelection is on life support and “the highest levels of the Democrat Party” have gone into “full-blown freak-out” mode.
The rally marked the Biden Campaign’s launch of a “nationwide effort to mobilize Black voters” amid cratering poll numbers among black adults. Biden’s approval among this cohort has dropped from 94 percent when he started his term to just 42 percent in a January Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
“Our campaign believes that Black voters deserve to hear from Team Biden-Harris, and they deserve to have their vote earned, not assumed,” the campaign said ahead of the rally. “No campaign has valued Black voters like we have, including through investing earlier and with more money than ever before talking to Black voters.”
“On Memorial Day, I proudly stood with a black man!” Biden informed his largely black audience.
For much of his speech, Biden continued his “angry warrior” election-year pose, dog-whistling to black voters that Trump’s purportedly racist “MAGA” agenda will have a terrible impact on their lives.
“This is the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder. The same guy who still calls the Central Park Five guilty, even though they were exonerated,” he hissed. “He’s that landlord who denies housing applications because of the color of your skin.”
Biden ranted angrily that an “unhinged” Trump has been peddling misinformation in an effort to win back the White House.
“I’ve shown you who I am and Trump has shown you who he is and today Donald Trump is pandering and peddling lies and stereotypes!” he spat.
“I’ll be damned if I’m going to let Donald Trump turn America into a place of anger, resentment and hate,” Biden seethed in an effort to rile up the crowd. “My question is a simple one: Are you with me?”
Seems like the answer may be “no”. Good, LBJ has been laughing in his grave for entirely too long now.