Philly’s Protests Against Trump Are Already Paying Off

Trump and Harley-Davidson reportedly canceled a factory visit because they were scared of protests like the ones in Philly.

Anti-Trump protesters

Protesters at Thomas Paine Plaza last Thursday, the day Donald Trump spent in Philadelphia. | Photo: Dan McQuade

Philadelphia’s protests lat week against Donald Trump are already paying dividends.

Pretty much any protest can be considered, by its nature, to be a success. As long as one TV camera shows up or one car drives by, it draws attention to a cause. And Philadelphia’s massive protests against Trump last week got a lot of attention.

But the news that Trump and Harley-Davidson decided to cancel a factory trip on Thursday shows that these anti-Trump protests are working in particular. “Harley-Davidson was worried about the protests likely to greet Mr. Trump and the possible harm to its popularity,” the New York Times wrote, “just as Peyton Manning was last week when he dashed out the back door of a Republican retreat in Philadelphia rather than risk the cameras.”

A source told CNN it was the threat of protests, and not Trump’s policies, that was the reason for the cancellation.

Why does this matter? Well, one, Trump likes adoring crowds that clap for him. He announced his Supreme Court decision live on TV last night, in front of a crowd of supporters. He even held a victory tour. He would’ve gotten that at a factory visit. Now he doesn’t.

Two, it’s becoming bad optics to host a fawning Donald Trump visit. If you want to support Trump, you now have to own it. That might be tough for Trump fans, but that’s what happens when you support an unpopular leader.