A rowdy protest greeted Vice President Mike Pence in June when he arrived in Philadelphia to campaign for Scott Wagner, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor.
Vice President Mike Pence's appearance last month drew about 1,000 protesters in Philadelphia as he campaigned for Scott Wagner, the Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee, at a private fundraiser. (Image source: KYW-TV video screenshot)
But the acrimony for Pence from some in City of Brotherly Love — which included a tweet by an elected official/LGBTQ activist giving the vice president the finger — apparently isn't deterring him from making a return trip this month.
Image source: Twitter, redacted
Pence is slated to host a July 23 fundraiser for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Lou Barletta at the Union League of Philadelphia, PhillyVoice reported. Barletta is looking to unseat Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in November.
The Barletta and Casey campaigns on Monday didn't immediately reply to TheBlaze's request for comment on Pence's return trip.
President Donald Trump is supporting Barletta's run after the U.S. representative's early support of Trump during the last presidential campaign. Barletta also has ties with local Republicans, including Bob Asher, chairman of the National Republican Committee in Montgomery County, PhillyVoice reported.
Barletta is far behind Casey in available campaign cash — just $1.3 million compared to the incumbent's reported $10 million, the outlet said.
More from PhillyVoice:
The Union League has played host to Trump and several of his political allies in the last few years. The traditionally Republican club, initially founded in 1862 in support of President Abraham Lincoln's policies, welcomed Trump during the 2016 presidential election campaign season and hosted U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in February. A Trump-Pence visit there in early 2017 also initiated protests.
The paper also said the Union League didn't admit women until well into the 1980s.
The angry, vocal crowd blasted Pence and Trump over the decision to prosecute all illegal border crossers, which forced the separation of children from their parents per federal law and longstanding Department of Homeland Security policy. Trump later issued an executive order ending family separations.
The protesters chanted, marched and arranged children’s shoes on the ground to spell the word “no,” representing children separated from their families, across the street from the Rittenhouse Hotel where Pence spoke for about an hour at the event benefiting the Republican Governors Association, KYW said.
Planned Parenthood PA got into the act as well, as the abortion provider used a rather ironic hashtag — “#KeepFamiliesTogether” — in its tweet supporting the protesters:
Demonstrations continued around Rittenhouse Square after Pence departed, the station said, adding that protesters wouldn’t move out of the way of a Secret Service agent who was trying to leave in his car.
Image source: KYW-TV video screenshot
There was a minor scuffle between authorities and protesters, KYW reported.
Image source: KYW-TV video screenshot
One man was issued a written citation, the station said, adding that there were no arrests.
Image source: KYW-TV video screenshot
Here's a news report of last month's protest in Philly:
