President Biden was recently criticized for seemingly drawing little attendance to his event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When contrasting the crowd size and energy of former President Donald Trump’s rallies with Joe Biden’s public events, the former always appears to dwarf the latter. For example, the Trump campaign claims to have drawn as many as 25,000 people to its latest rally in the Bronx.
Photos have circulated on social media showing Biden’s event in what appears to be a high school gymnasium. However, the photos appear to show a considerable amount of empty space, where the venue’s capacity is not even close to being met. With Pennsylvania being a critical battleground state in the upcoming election, this is a bad sign for the Biden campaign.
New York Post reporter Steven Nelson uploaded pictures of the event’s audience to X, where he commented, “Photos from President Biden’s Philadelphia rally: the school’s gym is only about half full of supporters A good amount of space is empty and spacious press workspace takes up the rest.”
Recent polling suggests that Biden is struggling among swing state voters, particularly in Pennsylvania, where voters are beginning to shift away from the Democratic incumbent. A poll conducted earlier this month by the New York Times, Siena College, and the Philidelphia Inquirer showed that Biden’s support among young voters in the battleground state had fallen substantially since 2020, dropping from 62 percent to 47 percent.
Furthermore, Biden is losing support from minority communities, such as Black and Hispanic voters, who have dropped from 72 to 57 percent since the last election. Former Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) sounded the alarm on the news, noting that he is “surprised” by the polling results.
“I’m surprised that things aren’t going so well,” Altmire said. “If there’s any place where he should be doing well or better than President Trump, it’s Pennsylvania because of the personal connection, because of the work he’s been putting in for decades, and because the state is trending blue.” He added, “I think he’s doing everything he can do. They’ve pulled out all the stops,” he added.
The American Tribune has previously reported on troubling signs for the Biden campaign in swing states such as Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, an independent research project studied the opinion of a group of independent voters who unanimously agreed that Trump was a better president for the economy.
One Pennsylvania voter named Virginia illustrated the economic perspective of her state. “We have areas here in Pennsylvania where it’s just at a standstill right now. Like, things are supposed to be being built and the interest rates are just way too high for people to, you know, invest and start moving around,” she said. “The interest rate is so high right now and I know they’re trying to cut the inflation down, but like, if nobody is building, no businesses are really coming to Pennsylvania right now to keep us moving forward.”
Another Pennsylvania voter named Gigi stated that it doesn’t feel like Biden has taken any accountability for the struggling economy.“I feel like he doesn’t even take accountability at all with what’s going on,” she said. “Not even accountability, like he’s in denial that it’s happening.”
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