Thread by @ambiej

i’m at the Philly convention center today where there are two competing rallies: a few dozen people at a Count Every Vote rally and a handful of MAGA types

this man is holding a “sorry polls are closed” sign but declined to speak. his sign is referring to the PA supreme court decision that allows mail in ballots received up to three days after election day to be counted, which SCOTUS declined to hear.

Patrick Pellicciotti, 64, a former iron worker is a republican poll watcher.

He said he’s concerned that poll workers are throwing away Trump ballots (to be clear, there is ZERO evidence this is occurring). “They’re so far away we can’t see nothing,” he told me.

to be clear, Pellicciotti wasn’t protesting, he was on a break from poll watching insider the convention center. He explained poll workers are about 100 feet away and he can see them taking ballots out of machines and sorting them. He volunteered “because i want a fair election.”

Pellicciotti told me he was very concerned about Trump winning PA — “this thing could flip anytime” — but wanted all mail in ballots counted.

“it’s hard,” he said. “i would say i want them because they might be for trump. i think every vote should be counted. it’s only fair.”

police moved the MAGA protest of a few people over the road next to the Every Vote Counts rally where is basically just a dance party

this small MAGA protest was organized by Freedom Works for America, a conservative PAC who printed all the signs

suddenly this little rally has gotten REINVIGORATED by news that the Trump campaign’s Corey Lewandowski and Pam Bondi are turning up for a press conference about the attempts to challenge PA’s vote counting. chants of “legal votes matter”

sorry to just continually tweet videos of two little rallies facing off each other outside the PA convention center, it just feels very reflective of this land of contrasts

Corey Lewandowski and Pam Bondi have arrived outside the philly convention center

incredible job by the every vote counts protest across the road who pumped up Beyoncé’s Party so not one word could be heard of Pam Bondi’s speech

Corey Lewandowski managed to speak louder than the music. “this is an opportunity to shed light on what is going on inside this building,” he said, pointing to a new court order regarding election observing. tbc there is NO evidence so far of vote fraud or miscounting in Philly

the new court order being touted as a “win” by Trump campaign does not change anything about ballots but allows poll observers to be closer. “we’re going to start watching what’s going on not from 30 feet away, not from 100 feet away, from 6 feet away,” said corey lewandowski.

to be clear this is exactly what the Republican poll worker i spoke to earlier today was looking for!

https://twitter.com/ambiej/status/1324348766456061954

i spoke w the DJ who played Bey loudly during the Trump campaign presser. He’s
Nicolas O’Rourke, state organizing director for PA’s Working Families Party.
“if you’re in philadelphia and want to protest, we have no problem with your protest. we know how to protest too,” he said.

https://twitter.com/ambiej/status/1324373429609529348

O’Rourke told me he is very specific about the songs he plays — there’s been a lot of Beyoncé, Kendrick, Childish Gambino etc — and choosing Party by Beyoncé was no accident. “there are messages in the song,” he said. “freedom is something we’re fighting for.”

the Count Every Vote rally has been energy all day — dancing, flags, drums — while the MAGA rally has fluctuated from a handful to disappearing to now a sizable energized few dozen with a bunch of new Trump campaign flags, on opposite corners outside the Philly convention center

the two opposing rallies outside philadelphia convention center as we await the return of Corey Lewandowski and Pam Bondi

New chant from the Trump side here— “stop the cheat, Biden got beat”

things getting more tense here in philly — guy in the denim jacket has a “proud boy” patch and protesters are arguing more directly with each other, with a metal divider in between them.

Pam Bondi and Corey Lewandowski back again outside the Philly convention center and again i could not hear a single word because they were completely drowned out by the chants of “count every vote” and “this is what democracy looks like”

Two people from Brooklyn on opposite sides are outside the Philly convention center having a disagreement about Trump

just returned to Philly Convention Center to find absolute SCENES at this Count Every Vote rally

the ingenuity of these costumes! and support of the mail in ballot!

a brief gritty dance off