On opposite sides of the city Tuesday night Republicans and Democrats were huddling to watch the first — and perhaps only — debate of the 2024 presidential election.
In the half hour leading up to the ABC News debate, the Angry Elephant on the Northside went from buzzing to jam packed with supporters of former President Donald Trump, many of whom dressed for the occasion.
Early in the night a Trump impersonator was making the rounds taking pictures with the crowd, while a server poked her head outside looking for the orderer of a Trump burger.
The room of attendees filled all of the standing room between tables, and immediately came to life when Trump started attacking Vice President Kamala Harris over the Biden administration’s handling of the border. They roared with cheers when he suggested he might get Harris a red MAGA hat for copying his policies.
Unlike Democrats, who hosted numerous watch parties across the city, the GOP’s gathering was informal.
The Republican Party of Bexar County didn’t plan a watch party due to the 8 p.m. start time, but Republicans from all across the city knew to flock to the Angry Elephant, a sports bar that’s hosted a number of candidate rallies for GOP events and features vintage photos of former Republican presidents on the wall.
“I want to make sure [Trump’s] message gets through, that people actually see what he’s about, not to get involved with the liberal hype,” said Joe Cardona, a retired U.S. Navy veteran and San Antonio native, was among the early arrivers and brought three friends, also veterans. They posted up at a table facing the wall of TVs over the bar.
Lane Avery, who attended with a friend and wore a white Make America Great Again hat, said he normally comes to the Angry Elephant to watch sports, but saw on their Instagram page that they were streaming the debate. At age 24, he said he’s excited to cast his first presidential election vote for Trump this November.
“I’m a big gun guy,” he reasoned.
Meanwhile, in Southtown, two Democratic state House candidates assembled a similar-sized crowd to watch the debate on a giant wall-sized projection inside an event venue in the Blue Star Arts Complex.
The crowd sat in rows of folding chairs, mingling in and out to buy drinks, peruse the merch table and greet one another during the breaks.
Unlike the Republican watch party, which seemed irritated when Harris spoke, the audience largely laughed every time Trump took the mic.
They cheered hard when Harris said Trump had been “fired by 81 million voters,” and appreciated her joke about him getting forgetful about the last election.
“I didn’t think Harris was gonna be throwing punches back at him. That was pretty awesome,” said Cameron Reid, a 34-year-old radio station employee.
“I didn’t realize it was going to be so hilarious,” said Jocelin Moreno, a 28-year-old server who works at the Pearl, and found the event on Instagram for the two of them.
Hosts Kristian Carranza, who is running against state House Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio) and Laurel Jordan Swift, who is running to replace Republican Steve Allison (R-San Antonio), lined the walkway up Brick at Blue Star with their Harris signs and their own campaign materials.
Inside, they were joined by a who’s who of elected Democrats and party leaders: State House Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio), Sheriff Javier Salazar, Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6), Bexar Democratic Party Chair Monica Ramirez Alcántara and former Under Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones.
“Sometimes you just need to be around like-minded people,” said Rosalinda Adame-Moylan, who believes Harris has momentum on her side.
