For the lesser of evils

How did the United States elect Trump for the second time? Ilya Azar's reporting from Pennsylvania, a key state in the presidential election

The state of Pennsylvania was considered key to determining the winner of the November 5 US presidential election. It is the largest of seven swing states in which no one could predict the winner before the election. All experts agreed that without success in Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris would not become president. It is no coincidence that both candidates ended their presidential campaigns in this state: on November 4, Trump spoke in Pittsburgh, and Harris spoke in three cities at once - Allentown, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. In the latter, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, Jon Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, Ricky Martin and others appeared on stage in front of Harris.

Starship Troopers didn't help. Donald Trump confidently won both in the country as a whole (295 electoral votes against 226 as of November 7) and in Pennsylvania - with an advantage of 130 thousand votes. Novaya Gazeta Europe special correspondent Ilya Azar spent two days in Philadelphia, talking with both Harris supporters and Trump-voting residents of the Russian-speaking suburb of Bustleton.

EDITOR'S NOTE
This is Ilya Azar's third report on the US presidential election. Previously, he traveled to Moscow (Pennsylvania) and spoke about the split in American society. He also talked with Russians living in the States.

No common ground

If in Russia there is an expression “Moscow is not Russia” and it is generally accepted that the capital is actually a separate state, then in the USA the country is divided differently - into cities and rural areas. The vast majority of residents of large cities on the East and West coasts of the country (the most populous parts of America) always vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. Rural districts are the opposite.

Pennsylvania is no exception. Its flagship city of Philadelphia gave Joe Biden 81% of the vote in 2020, Hillary Clinton 82% in 2016, and Barack Obama 85% in 2012. Apparently, due to a noticeable downward trend in the number of people voting for the Democratic candidate, it was in Philadelphia that Harris held her final campaign rally on November 4 (in the end, only 79% of voters in the city voted for her).

In the final days before the election, downtown Philadelphia was filled with identical campaign signs featuring Harris, Obama and Martin Luther King with the message: “Defend Democracy, Vote November 5th.” Literally at every intersection these posters were attached to three or four poles at once.

The line for the Harris rally outside the Art Museum began to form well in advance, and by the time it officially began at 5 p.m., it had already stretched for kilometers. Along it walked black drummers chanting “Ka-ma-la Har-ris” and a white girl with a sign saying “Quakers for Harris” (this religious society played a big role in the fight for the abolition of slavery in the USA), causing applause.

People lined up in a long snake in several rings along Benjamin Franklin Boulevard, which is always decorated with flags of countries around the world. There is also a Russian tricolor here, despite the fact that anti-war activists have repeatedly tried to remove it and even replaced it with the white-blue-white flag of the Russian opposition. Now the tricolor is still in place, because the Philadelphia mayor's office insists that it is the national flags that should be on the boulevard.

The smiling woman, wearing a cap with a large Kamala Harris campaign pin attached to it, had been standing in line for an hour when I approached her. Social worker Stephanie Sawa said she went to a rally with Obama the week before and was “so charged with positive energy” that she decided to come this time with her daughter, who voted for the first time in 2024.

- Why are you for Kamala? - I ask her.

“Firstly, she can speak in complete sentences, and this is already quite exciting,” Sava answers, bursting into laughter. “Plus I know Trump’s tax and economic ideas will cost the middle class an extra $4,000 a year.” Kamala cares more about the middle class and we have a terrible healthcare system here that is driven by profit. Insurance companies are providing people with less and less health care while continuing to raise our premiums.

Sawa praises Harris for wanting to expand Medicare to caregiver care for older adults.

“But I would support anyone who runs against Trump, even a dog, because he’s crazy.” I'm actually also a therapist. Do I need to say anything more? - Sava laughs.

— Why does half the population support him? - I ask a question to which I did not find an answer during my week in America.

“Honestly, I rack my brain every day trying to understand this. “I think it's Fox News propaganda and there needs to be a class action lawsuit against the network for how many people it has brainwashed,” Sawa says. “I’ve been trying for nine years to find common ground with the Republicans, but at some point they all say: “No, I can’t vote for a communist.” Although she is not a communist, she is actually quite moderate.

My interlocutor, who described herself as a therapist, has a theory that Trump is similar to the abusive fathers of many of his supporters.

She, like most of the Democrats with whom I spoke in the United States, is confident that Trump, if he wins, will not give up power in 2028 and will become a “dictator.”

“I have never seen people so divided.” I have never seen a president whose speech you want to turn off in front of your children because he sounds crazy. And, of course, he is completely against women controlling their bodies. He constantly attacks on Twitter. If you disagree with him or don't support him, then he hates you

“But being a dictator is still a more serious matter ,” I object.

- Yes, but all dictators start somewhere, people do not become dictators from the very beginning.

We need to be vigilant, because Trump is showing all the signs of a budding dictator,” Sava says and laughs again.

For some reason, the line for Harris' rally was mostly white, even though the city's black population makes up at least a third. It was simply impossible to pass by the colorful couple of the tall African-American Fletcher Johnson and the stocky Jew Ira Cohen .

Fletcher's T-shirt says “Fox news sucks.” “This is a propaganda machine for Trump and the right to manipulate the facts and keep people misinformed. It works because more than half of Republicans believe Biden was not a legitimately elected president, and many who are poorly educated consider blacks and browns to be enemies,” says Fletcher.

“Trump wants to concentrate power in the United States in the executive branch of government,” Ira intervenes in the conversation. “He wants to give himself powers that won’t have to be approved by Congress. Around him gathered those who wanted to become oligarchs (wannabe oligarchs), for example Elon Musk, who will now be the Tsar of Efficiency (Efficiency tzar), but under Trump there will be such in every sphere.

I ask two friends whether America should continue to support Ukraine with weapons and whether Trump will do so if he wins.

- Of course you should! - both scream in unison.

“This is the most dangerous thing about Trump’s possible victory.” He might also leave NATO,” says Fletcher.

“If he is elected, he will say that there will be no more help, and he will tell Ukraine to give Russia the conquered lands,” agrees Ira.

— If Ukraine loses, will Putin go further to Poland? — Fletcher immediately asks his friend.

“Of course,” he answers.

Fletcher is confident that Putin has dirt on Trump, and that’s why it’s “in his pocket.”

“I used to think the same thing, but now it seems to me that Trump simply adores Putin and wants to be the same,” says Ira. — I worked for NATO for 20 years and visited the Soviet Union about 25 times. Trust me, Trump is just following the old Soviet program: “Scare people, tell them they need you for safety. Say that the problems are real and only you can solve them.” It's simple.

Another African-American, 55-year-old Cherry Derut , wearing a 76ers jersey and a pendant with his mother's photo around his neck, disagrees with Ira and Fletcher. I met him on the morning of Election Day, in which he supported Kamala Harris because she supports women's rights to abortion and promises to cut taxes.

Cherry does not believe that America should help Ukraine with weapons: “I do not encourage violence! People must solve problems without wars. Children and entire families die there. For what? For what? I don’t know why, but this needs to end.”

Debate over a mug

Yuri Mitchell was also at the November 4th rally in support of Kamala Harris. He moved to the States as a child and speaks Russian imperfectly. Works as a lawyer and volunteers for the Democratic Party. We meet him late at night in a bar, before Kamala has even begun her closing speech.

He shows me the app that Democratic Party volunteers use to visit voters. Here there is a complete scenario of a possible conversation with numerous forks - a list of people with whom you need to talk appears in the application, information about them collected using big data. Then in the application you need to note how the conversation went.

“There are Democrats, Republicans, and independents here.” In August, when the campaign began, we spoke only with Democrats, then we persuaded Republicans, and in the last two weeks the task was to convince all of you to come out to vote,” explains Yuri.

He himself does not use the script, he relies on his skills as a lawyer, but he avoids answering the question of how many Republicans he managed to convince.

— There are few monolithic Trump supporters. There are Republicans who worry about gays, those who worry about the economy, and there are those who think that men are stronger than women and, therefore, a man should be elected president,” says Yuri.

I was introduced to him by Alexander Kunilovsky , the former head of Navalny’s headquarters in Tyumen, who moved here back in 2019, when he realized that it would no longer be possible to engage in politics in Russia normally, and there was no chance of a good job with such a background. In America, he mastered programming, got a job in a large company and does not regret anything, although as a solo asylum seeker, he had to fight for many years for the right to bring his family to the States.

At a meeting with Yuri, he decides to ask him questions about the Harris election campaign, and I watch with interest this confrontation between two Russian-speaking residents of the United States.

— Why can Kamala hold a rally in the center of the largest city in a key state on the last night before the elections? It's a symbol of corruption when one candidate, who should be in the same position as another, gets an advantage! - he asks for starters.

- But this is not an advantage! - Yuri answers indignantly. “I think she went to the mayor’s office, asked for permission and received it.

-Are you really that naive? - Alexander is surprised.

“He was at Madison Square Garden!”

- But this is a blue ( the color of the Democratic Party. - Author's note ) state!

“So he didn’t get permission in Philadelphia.”

“You sound like Putin: “Go to court,” Alexander uses an argument from the modern version of Godwin’s law , but Yuri is not as simple as it seems.

— Putin is in Russia, where there are no courts, and everything is as Putin says. “Here is the rule of law, and it is impossible to obtain permission due to corruption,” he mints.

“Trump doesn’t pay his bills, so now they don’t give him big stadiums,” explains Yuri’s wife, who is also present at our meeting. She's Greek, so everyone tries to speak English.

“So your theory is that Trump is stupid and he just didn’t come up with such an idea,” Alexander doesn’t give up.

- Yes, I think he’s stupid, but the main thing is that he doesn’t pay the bills, and you have to pay for places for events, so he usually holds them outdoors. And why does he need Philadelphia, because people wouldn’t come to his rally, but on the contrary, there would be protests in the city with slogans “F-off”. - Yuri answers.

Since I’m actually the journalist here, I wedge myself into the conversation between Alexander and Yuri and ask the latter a question: “I heard from Democratic supporters that organizing a final rally in a city where everyone already supports the Democrats and Kamala is not a good idea. Why did she do this?

Yuri, of course, disagrees: “The idea is to ignite supporters so that they come to the polls. If all of Democratic Philadelphia votes for her, that will be enough—5 million people live here.” He proves his thesis with an example from volunteer practice:

“I just had to convince a registered Democratic voter to go vote today.” He, a small business owner with two young daughters, said, “None of them have ever done anything for me.” He took work calls in the evening, which means he works a lot,” says Yuri.

Alexander, meanwhile, moves on to the second burning question: “How did Kamala become a candidate?

I don't understand who chose her. Did she win the primaries? Why is she a candidate? Where is democracy in the process of choosing it?”

Yuri doesn’t hesitate here either: “First of all, I voted for Biden, but when I cast my vote for him, Harris was also on the ballot.”

“But Biden was a presidential candidate, and Harris is nobody, you didn’t personally choose her,” Yuri does not give up.

“But if Hitler were with Biden, then I would probably think about whether to vote for him,” Yuri says with obvious irony in his voice. “Secondly, Democrats and Republicans are private parties, so they can choose candidates as they want. And thirdly, [formally] we voted for delegates in the primaries, and she called everyone, and 2 thousand told her “yes.” That's enough for me!

Alexander’s third question is very voluminous, and he begins it with a classic journalistic formula:

— There is an opinion that power in America mainly changes hands within a narrow circle of people belonging to the elite. It is believed that the Obama clan appointed Harris to be president from a privileged family that has nothing to do with the middle class. I don’t like the smell here, I see signs of corruption here - not financial, but the kind when those who were in power do not want to part with it and continue to hold it.

“I think she’s a good candidate and at the debate she walked Trump by the leash like a dog.” She also managed to create such a powerful campaign in just 100 days - this is a big deal,” Yuri answers an unasked question.

— But what about corruption? - Alexander returns him to the topic of conversation.

“I think it was Biden who nominated her, and Obama and everyone else wanted someone else and proposed open primaries right at the general meeting of delegates,” says Yuri. They argue for a long time about whether 82-year-old Biden, in his condition, can perform the duties of president and why, for the sake of his nomination, the remaining candidates from the Democratic Party were asked to withdraw their candidacies, but this is a topic for another text.

The conversation between the two friends ends with Alexander saying: “It’s good that I’m not voting, because I wouldn’t want to vote for any of them.”

“I suspect that she will continue the same line with Ukraine, which means she will not give Ukraine enough weapons, and secondly, I am very pro-Israel and I think that she loves terrorists from Palestine more than Israelis,” explains Alexander, and further discussion is drowned in the larger debate about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Not just Trump

Not all Republicans want to deprive Ukraine of weapons and funding. An example is 38-year-old Roman Zhukov. A bald skull, a black beard with hints of grey, a green T-shirt with a Ukrainian trident, a yellow and blue bracelet on his arm.

He was born in Magadan, but as a child he moved with his parents to Ukraine, from where he came to the United States at the age of 18. He did various jobs, and now he teaches people how to drive trucks.

Roman received an American passport a long time ago and is actively involved in politics. He was a member of the election commission for five years, and two years ago he ran for the Philadelphia City Council from the Russian-speaking district of Bustleton (he lost, but is going to try again). “Not everything at once, everything has its time,” he explains in a calm and confident tone.

“Of the 350 thousand people in the region, from 20 to 40% are representatives of the post-Soviet space, of which 5-7 percent are interested at best.”

He does not consider the 2024 elections “historic” and fateful for America. “This soviet mentality, which requires a strong hand, goes to the polls to vote for Trump. Just like in Russia he went to support Putin, and in Belarus Lukashenko. They elect more senators and congressmen, and the president can't do a damn thing without Congress. We were lucky that at the moment or so far it is not a dictatorship. This means that Congress can stop the president, and vice versa, ”Zhukov reassures me.

After this speech, I thought on the machine that Zhukov was a democrat, but I was mistaken.

- Will Trump become a dictator in case of victory? - I ask.

- The USA is a catastrophically free country in which you can do a lot of unpredictable things. The fact that Trump shouts that we need to build a wall along the southern borders is, of course, a wonderful initiative, but at the moment he is building a wall exclusively inside the American civil society, which is separated as polar as possible. It scares me that if something suddenly goes wrong, one spark is enough, but I do not think that local democracy is so exhausted that he will fold his hands at the first attempt on her, ”Zhukov replies.

- That is, there will be a civil war rather than the dictatorship?

- Yes, the usurpation of power is hardly possible. Trump is completely unpredictable, but is easy to influence. It all depends on how this environment will be, ”replies Zhukov.

The volunteer of the Democratic Party, Yuri Mitchell, by the way, allows both Trump’s dictatorship and the Civil War. “Trump was already trying to do this, and if not for Mike Pence, he would have stayed in power,” he says. -Under Vice President Vance and with the help of Project 2025 (more about him here ), he will take only those who completely obey him. First, slowly, slowly, and then once - and here you have a dictator.

- Will society swallow?

- So he has a supreme court in his pocket, and this is the only body that can say that what is happening is illegal. And if not, then, the army, or something, will go to Washington?

- Why then are everyone surprised that Russian society does not rebel against the dictatorship? - I can’t stand it.

“But in other Soviet republics [uprisings] they worked or almost worked, but there was no such uprising in Russia,” Yuri replies.

- And what will you do if the civil war begins? Will you join military resistance? - Yuri Alexander maliciously asks.

- Maybe I’ll leave, because I would not want to fight - I was not a soldier, but I just do not see the point of dying. First I will go to protests, but if everyone is beaten, I don’t know what I will do. If the army is for the president, then my small gun, which is stored at home, is unlikely to help.

Zhukov, like all Americans, admits that the level of schism in American society is now maximum. “I received 17 text messages today. One more thing has come, ”says Zhukov and shows the screen of his phone,“ “Vote behind Kamal”. Calls come to me, Imiles receive me, they leave me mail under the door in kilograms, and it does not say why this or that candidate will be better, but it is said why another candidate will make my life impossible. ”

- When you live in constant aggression and hatred, for you it becomes the norm, and everything from outside becomes an irritant and begins to enrage. You begin to enter into disputes, and more often it is not a reasoned conversation, but a fonding through the fence, ”Zhukov laments.

He admits that the Republican, but to say who he voted in the elections, refuses: "This is too intimate." Nevertheless, it hints: "Even if you are a Republican, this does not mean that you must blindly follow the party line."

“But what do you think of Trump?”

- I believe that this is the most unpredictable person of all in the modern history of the United States. Kamala, too, is not an ideal representative of the Democrats, but at least I know what to expect from her, but I know nothing about Trump. Perhaps he will do well. Perhaps he will do badly. I do not agree with what I do not agree with, but a lot with what I agree in his policy. But unpredictability is not for today's world, which is now on very thin ice. I would like to understand where to look for this fucking raft and how to get out, ”answers Zhukov.

Looking at the Trizub on the T -shirt of the native of Magadan, it is strange to ask him if he supports the assistance of the Americans to Ukraine, although it is believed that the Republicans do not want to allocate money or weapons to Kyiv.

- I know many Republicans, for example Brian Fitzpatrick, who is one of the main lawyers for Ukraine in the United States. Will America help Ukraine? Yes, it will be. If Trump is against, Congress can get around it. Not without a fight, but Okay, ”says Zhukov.

I ask him about the attitude to immigration, because this is one of the main topics that bother the Republicans.

- In the last 30 years, immigration has changed a lot - it has become non -earthy. If earlier the best of the best or those for whom they have been entrusted, now this is not the best came here. I believe that there should be some kind of selection and the labor department should provide lists who are not enough for suitable visas to go first, ”says Zhukov.

Russian -speaking ghetto

If the victory of Harris in the center of Philadelphia was not in doubt, then in other areas of the city the situation was more difficult. In Bastleton, immigrants from the countries of the former Soviet Union are historically concentrated, and it is no secret that Trump is very popular among them.

To get to Bastleton, you need to get to the end station of the metro, from where it is another half an hour to go by bus. The closer to the outskirts, the people in anticipation of the elections are more and more nervous.

In the subway, a white woman with an absolutely drunk friend who hung on her shoulder talks about elections with a young African American in a baseball cap. He explains that he will vote for Harris simply because there was too much separation during the previous period of Trump in society, but the fact that there was less money is not so important.

At the exit from the metro I see two young people - black and white.

“Didn't you vote for Donald Trump?” - Bely asks almost hysterically. His friend shakes his head silently, and White is loudly indignant.

The whole road to Bastleton is dotted with signs in support of Harris, and it is almost impossible to see a banner in favor of Trump. In the Russian -speaking area, the opposite is true.

The fact that the Russian language is popular in Bastleton becomes clear at the polling station at the school of Anna Frank. At the entrance to it, a ban for parents to enter the sports ground is duplicated in Russian, and information about what can and what can not be done in the polling station is provided in many languages, including in Russian.

A bunch of advertising on the school’s fence (and on this day also of the polling station) about all candidates at different levels (there are no prohibition on campaigning on the day of the election in America), and the representative of the Republicans in a red vest (symbol of trampists) gives supporters a booklet with a list of candidates that the party supports.

She moves away when a little nervous volunteer of the Democratic Party Fei Greenfield begins to tell me about how Trump's supporters were seized by the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and that, in her opinion, Trump is Hitler, if he says carefully what he says.

“A person promotes violence and lies, and then claims that he said nothing like that,” Fay is indignant. She specially came to Bastleton from New York to control the elections for the Democratic Party. According to her, just the other day, her familiar Russian woman finally arrived in the States and now lives with her.

Russian -speaking voters on the site are not visible. I suppose that the chance to meet them at the “Russian store” is much higher, and I'm not mistaken. At a 15 -minute walk from the school of Anna Frank is the Petrovsky store. The flow of immigrants from the countries of the former Soviet Union seems to never weaken here.

The store itself has goods from Russia (for example, Santa-Bremor fish products), Ukraine (Roshen sweets or crackers Flint) and products of local manufacturers who try to please the tastes of their customers, so there is Riga and Israeli in the refrigerator Sour cream or Israeli and Odessa kefir.

Here you quickly begin to feel as if at home.

After all, if the Americans either agree to talk with the journalist, or refuse to apologize and smile, then the local Russian -speaking ones are good that three letters do not send.

However, there were also polite refusals: one elderly woman, leaning on the walkers, is waiting at the store that the car would take her. I ask her if she voted in the elections. She explains that it always does this by mail, but this time she did not notice the questionnaire and threw it into garbage.

- And who would they vote for?

“I understood your desire to know my opinion, but I won’t tell you a lot,” she says and turns away.

- Why?

“Because the circumstances are taking shape,” she throws over her shoulder and sideways moving away from me.

The Ukrainian family on the go replies to me that its members have no right to vote (there is no US passport), but still do not know who. “And one bad and the other,” the man answers in Ukrainian.

- Why?

“Trump promised to completely stop the help of all kinds of Ukraine,” he moves into Russian. - And Harris will continue Biden’s policy, and this is also a swamp. We will hope for Europe!

Immigrants constantly coming to Bastleton are helped by the organization of the New World Association. Her leader Marina Lipkovskaya refuses to talk with me about politics - she explains that after the previous note with her participation, the association had problems. “We are out of politics,” she says. - Voting is a very personal matter, and I do not ask anyone questions. We say to people that you don’t just need to shout that some candidate will not help Ukraine, and it is better to see what was actually done, because not a single president has yet fulfilled his promises. ”

Lipkovskaya is not afraid of the coming to power of Trump, he says that during his first term, the organization "did not feel the difference from the federal government." She says that at the first term she wrote a letter in Trump, in which she asked for “not to get”, because all three of his wives are immigrants. The answer even came to her: "We will take into account your wishes in resolving this issue."

“But still, one candidate advocates immigration, and the other against.” This applies to your wards? - I ask.

“It never concerned,” Lipkovskaya answers confidently. So the New World Association has been helping refugees since 1997, and the flow of immigrants never stops.

According to Zhukov, after 2022 at least 37 thousand arrived in Bastleton. “The Georgians, as far as I know, are about 5.5 thousand. The Uzbek population grows very quickly, and for the last time I talked with them, there were about 12 thousand. I can’t say how many Russians are here, because during the census everyone is trying to get away from the answer to the question of citizenship, ”he says.

According to Lipkovskaya, “unmeasured Ukrainians” came to Bastleton, but there are Afghans, Uzbeks or Tajiks. “The Russians are not in such large quantities, but there are also,” she says.

-Why are the Russians to run away? - Skeptically says one of the employees of Lipkovskaya Anastasia. She came here after the war from Ukraine.

“They run away from the regime,” Lipkovskaya replies, until I had time to open my mouth. - And what they say is also a disaster.

The New World Association helps to extend the green card, submit documents for citizenship, issue social assistance, older people provide translators, conduct English lessons, and make social assistance to refugees.

- The attitude towards the Russians from the state has worsened recently?

- I don't think. If the Russians behave normally, ”Lipkovskaya replies.

- If they do not go with communist flags! - Anastasia intervenes.

- Do they go?

- Unfortunately.

- Many Russians, when the war began, brought things here. Belarusians also helped a lot, - Lipkovskaya's Anastasia is smoothing.

Maybe so, but those immigrants from the former Soviet Union, with whom I spoke in Bastleton, spoke out against the war, but not in support of Ukraine.

Robert , an elderly man in a stretched T -shirt, tells me that he voted for someone who believes that he would make America again the great.

- Why?

“Firstly, I don’t know Harris,” he begins to answer.

“Of the two evils, they choose the smaller one,” his wife interrupts, who, according to her, once worked at RIA Novosti, and was also a classmate of the Novaya Gazeta journalist Igor Domnikov, who was killed in 2000, but talk with me more later Refuses flatly.

“Secondly,” Robert continues, “that a 60-year-old woman who has no children advocates abortions, leads me out of her own way.”

-My granddaughter voted for Harris because of abortion, because they, apparently, hung on their ears at school! - Once again his wife comes into conversation.

Robert likes Trump because he is a businessman. He, obviously, lists his possessions in Philadelphia, Atlantic City and New York. “He created this wealth with his own hands! His head! And four years that he was in power, prices did not rise, gasoline was about $ 2, and now 3 with something, ”says Robert.

A resident of Bastleton was born in Ukraine, although he served in the army for 30 years in the RSFSR. He hopes that Trump will stop the war that Robert does not deny, Putin and his associates unleashed.

- What is the difference, what kind of pension a person will receive in Zaporozhye, Russian or Ukrainian? I lived in the USSR and traveled everywhere, and they divided it! And for example, I do not want Russian and Ukrainian young guys to die, they are like brothers. I have one grandson, Egor, born in Kyiv, and the second, Marat, in Ryazan. Imagine, now they would fight against each other? - he says.

Similar considerations are expressed by Vera and Lev Taturashvili , Jews who moved to America from Baku 35 years ago.

- We voted for Trump, because he is more loyal to Israel, and we are rooting for Israel. And we do not like the politics that this Madame leads, it is not smart, not honest, not frank. We have long been Republicans, ”Vera explains.

- And what was bad at Bayden? - I ask as if I still do not know what she will answer.

- The economy went down (down) , opened the way for everyone in a row to immigrants. We ourselves are immigrants, but we were checked before the entrance, but now what is going on? We don't like it! God Knows (God knows) who comes, - says Vera, periodically inserting English words into Russian speech.

- Democrats are afraid that he will become a dictator and will not leave the post. What do you think?

- We have a large family, and some children who were born here, ardent democrats, - without answering a question, Vera proceeds to criticism of the Democrats. - I am trying to explain to them that it is we, and not they lived under socialism, and there will be no free (free) studies, because Free does not happen. They are smart guys, a doctor and a programmer, but BrainWashed (with washed brains) in colleges or whatver where. It is scary that in schools there is a LGBT propaganda, you see? I myself worked for the city, and there were a lot of such minorities, I treat them very well, but I do not want my granddaughter to not know who she is! Well COME On (stop) !

When asked what Trump will do with what is happening in Ukraine, Vera says: “We are generally against war. Period (and point) . Any war. Unsowed children and old people should not suffer from both sides. Trump promises to stop the war, but I do not believe that it is so easy. So, dear. "

In parting, she says that her cousin Leo was recently sent to Russia in a pre-trial detention center due to an anti-war position. “In Russia, everything returned almost to the Stalinist times - he fell under the comb,” says Vera, correcting dark glasses. In Pennsylvania, the sun shines in early November, the air warmed up to 25 degrees.

A tired woman with gray hair- Anna , who moved from Ukraine 34 years ago-did not vote for anyone, because both candidates “do not attract her”: Kamala did nothing in four years, being vice president, and Trump is unbalanced, It is endlessly sprinkled with insults, but at this level this should not be.

The nightmare of the liberal

In America, on the calculation of election results, they have long been accustomed to make an exciting show. For several hours in a row, the leading main television channels juggle the statistical data of these and previous elections on huge interactive maps, interspersing this with direct inclusions of correspondents from polling stations throughout the country. Most Americans watch this action at home, but in any large city Election Night (“Elections Night”) arrange in drinking institutions.

In one of the bars of Philadelphia on the evening of November 5, the Drinking Liberally club gathered (“We drink liberal”). Drinking beer, observing how the result of the candidates is growing, approaching the cherished figure of 270 electors, about 30 people gathered. The organizer of the evening Jean-Pierre Wallon tells me that Drinking Liberally is a “safe place where liberals can get together and talk about politics and various other things.”

По его словам, клуб впервые собрался в Нью-Йорке в 2001 году, но уже через несколько лет у Drinking liberally было 75 отделений, а сейчас около 250. «Это очень неформальная штука, тут нет бюджета, и любой может организовать клуб в своем городе . Отделение в Филадельфии работает с 2002 года, на наши собрания раз в месяц приходит обычно 10–15 человек, но на ночь выборов, конечно, больше», — говорит он.

Он рассказывает, что в клубе когда-то состояли даже республиканцы, но после появления в политике Дональда Трампа такого больше не было. «Но мы не судим людей. Хочешь быть с нами — приходи, просто не будь придурком», — называет главное правило членов клуба Жан-Пьер.

За бокалом пива мы обсуждаем раскол в американском обществе. Я спрашиваю, почему все говорят, что многие семьи даже перестали собираться вместе на День благодарения.

— Это не из-за Америки, это из-за Трампа. В моей семье с республиканцами мы общаемся, потому что они открытые люди. Но Трамп отравил и разделил так много семей. Он такой негативный человек! Его сторонники говорят, что он успешный бизнесмен, но на самом деле он посредственный актер и мошенник. Вот его сильные стороны. Он заставил множество американцев ненавидеть друг друга.

— Говорят даже, что в Америке может начаться гражданская война.

— Нет, в нее не втянет нас даже Трамп! Да, несколько тысяч сумасшедших людей атаковали Капитолий, но они не понимали, что делают. Этого больше не произойдет, — говорит Жан-Пьер, который не верит и в то, что Трамп станет диктатором и не уйдет с поста в 2028 году.

С самого начала подсчета голосов Трамп выходит вперед, и уже к 9 часам вечера его преимущество выглядит угрожающим.

— Вас не пугает эта картинка? — спрашиваю я Жан-Пьера про карту Америки, почти сплошь красную (демократические штаты к этому времени еще не были подсчитаны).

— Я осторожно оптимистичен, — отвечает Жан-Пьер и с деланным (как кажется мне) оптимизмом говорит, что республиканские штаты всегда считают раньше.

Чуть позже парень, выглядящий как программист, подходит к Жан-Пьеру и с тревогой сообщает, что в Джорджии после подсчета 70% бюллетеней разрыв составляет уже 20 тысяч голосов.

— Я родом из Атланты и думаю, что не всё потеряно. В любом случае приятно было бы выиграть в Джорджии, но это не обязательно, — успокаивает члена клуба Жан-Пьер.

— Что-то вроде insurance policy (страховки) , да?

- Yes, yes!

К 10 часам вечера становится понятно, что Трамп побеждает в Пенсильвании, но Жан-Пьер всё еще не готов принять реальность: «По данным из Филадельфии, 87% — за Харрис, и это, кажется, лучше, чем в прошлый раз. Если эти цифры устоят, то Харрис выиграла в штате, а значит, и на выборах».

Еще до полуночи поддерживающие демократов американские СМИ вроде CNN и New York Times признают очевидное: Трамп победил. Позже становится известно, что республиканцы получили контроль и над Сенатом, и над Конгрессом, а значит, вернувшийся к власти сможет сделать в США почти всё, что захочет. Может быть, даже установить диктатуру.

***

Вечером 4 ноября в центре Филадельфии ко мне подошел мужчина в фиолетовой толстовке и черной шапочке с кучей пакетов в руках (явный маркер отсутствия у него определенного места жительства) и стрельнул сигарету.

— Ну, кто победил? — спросил он меня.

— Так рано же еще, выборы идут, — ответил я, а он хмыкнул в ответ. Я выяснил, что сам он не голосовал, потому что зарегистрирован в Нью-Йорке, куда ради такого пустяка ехать ему лень.

Для поддержания беседы мужик решил выяснить, за кого голосовал я, после чего я долго объяснял ему, что вообще-то я из России, а в Филадельфию приехал в командировку.

— А, — наконец понял он и, улыбнувшись, спросил. — Россия — классная же страна?

— Да, но есть проблемы с демократией , — не раздумывая ответил я.

— Тут не лучше, — сказал тот, собрал пакеты в руку и пошел дальше.