(Headline USA) When Benjamin Franklin declared that the newly formed U.S. government was “a republic, if you can keep it,” little did he know that he, himself, would play a part in its DEI-driven downfall some 250 years later.
A parade of woke virtue-signaling took over Philadelphia’s Independence Mall on Thursday, in the same location that, 250 years ago, Franklin and 55 other Founding Fathers first declared their emancipation from England.
Just outside the Liberty Bell, a contest involving 30 Franklin “look-alikes” was won by a 25-year-old black woman.
“Thank you so much for picking me, and stay weird,” said the winner, Kiya Burgess, who took hope a pot of winnings that included the $1 entry fee from each contestant, KYW Newsradio reported.
Burgess revealed that the contest marked one of her first attempts to create a costume.
“I love cosplay. I love dressing up, and I already had this costume, so I just wanted to come and show everyone what I made because I like to sew, and this is one of my first costumes,” she said.
The contest featured a wide array of interpreters, some of whom looked more traditionally like Franklin, and several of whom took the opportunity to cross-dress and culturally appropriate the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence.
“There’s something about chubby and bald that just, I don’t know, the French like it and so it seems does the Philadelphians,” said well known Franklin interpreter Mitchell Kramer, one of the contest’s judges.
The event was organized by Elena Jackendoff, a 32-year-old Johns Hopkins University student, who posted flyers announcing it.
“You have to make the event you want to see in the world,” she said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
While the lighthearted even may have been all in good fun, it follows a pattern that has seen the City of Brotherly Love go out of its way to besmirch its patriotic heritage.
The city canceled its Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade on Thursday, citing extreme heat.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was one of several Democrat governors who attempted to boycott the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, in Washington, D.C.
Ultimately, Sens. John Fetterman and David McCormick intervened to ensure the Keystone State was represented.
🇺🇸 The Pennsylvania pavilion at the Great American State Fair is drawing huge crowds, with long lines as visitors explore exhibits and displays from businesses across the state. pic.twitter.com/7NXveo7OUm
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 3, 2026
Philadelphia also has come under criticism for its passive aggressive attempts to defy Trump’s orders to excise DEI from national monuments.
After an executive order required officials to take down an exhibition about slavery at the Liberty Bell , they instead posted handwritten signs on the window discussing what had been removed.
The city also sued the National Park Service to prevent the removal of the divisive exhibit at the President’s House, part of the Independence Mall complex that includes the Liberty Bell. In June, a federal appeals court reversed a lower-court judge’s injunction to prevent the exhibit’s removal.
“That mandatory injunction gives a municipality veto power over what the national federal government says on its own property, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory in den Berken, according to WHYY.
Philly’s own George Soros-backed district attorney, Larry Krasner, and other elected law-enforcement officials, including sheriff Rochelle Bilal, have openly defied the Trump administration on issues including immigration enforcement.
“”If any of them want to come in this city and commit a crime, you will not be able to hide,” Bilal said in January, threatening to arrest ICE officers for performing their duties. “… You don’t want this smoke, ’cause we will bring it to you.”
