Calif. Gov. Newsom, local officials rally for Biden in Doylestown

Ahead of the speech, rally-goers were met outside the venue by dozens of former President Donald Trump’s supporters waving flags and hoisting signs in support of the Republican candidate.

Lisa Leedom and James R. Leedom, Levittown residents, said they support Trump and want to see him limit government overreach and lower taxes.

James Leedom said he wants to see Trump support an effort to restart the Keystone XL Pipeline Project to lower gas prices and reduce inflation.

“People can’t afford to eat. They can’t afford to do anything,” he said.

Ed Sheppard, chair of communications for the Doylestown Republican Committee, said the counter-rally “grew organically” once Trump’s supporters heard about the Democratic rally.

Sheppard said local Republicans are hoping to make a difference nationally with the local elections in Bucks County and Pennsylvania.

“Pennsylvania’s going to decide the White House, the Senate and the House, and Bucks County is going to decide Pennsylvania,” he said, highlighting the House race between incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz as well as the U.S. Senate race between Republican challenger Dave McCormick and incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, in addition to the presidential match between Biden and Trump.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the entire ticket,” Sheppard said. “People are fed up with Democratic policies, and after that debate a lot of independents feel lied to by Democrats about the state of their president, so they’re really gravitating towards us who are being honest about our state of minds.”

If there’s a point of consensus on both sides, it’s that Bucks County voters will play a decisive role in November’s elections. Philly’s collar counties are crucial to win Pennsylvania, a historic swing state, and Bucks County has been a particularly close race in past elections. In 2020, Biden won the county with 51.7% of the vote to Trump’s 47.3%. The 2016 presidential election was even closer: Hillary Clinton barely edged out Trump with 48.4% of the vote compared to 47.8% of the vote for Trump.

“We need to buck up, Bucks County,” Newsom told the crowd. The governor said that it was a “choice election” between “daylight and darkness.”

“If Donald Trump succeeds, God help us, we will roll back the last half century,” he said. “It’s America in reverse. They want to bring us back to a pre-1960s world and you are the front lines of that opposition. You are the folks that can make sure that does not happen. Voting rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, not just access to abortion, access to contraception, all of those things are on the ballot, Bucks County, and we are counting on you. America’s counting on you.”

WHYY News reporter Carmen Russell-Sluchansky contributed reporting.