Trump Tower?

The scene at Chicago’s Trump Tower

There were no TVs at 16 Terrace restaurant to watch Kamala Harris’ primetime speech.

Adam Wren

If you wanted to watch Kamala Harris accept the Democratic nomination Thursday evening, practically the one place you couldn’t do it in Chicago was the Trump International Hotel & Tower off Wabash Ave, just 2.5 miles from where Democrats gathered at the United Center.

Throughout the week, the building became something of a bête noire for Democrats, an object of both curiosity and disdain.

“What I see every night when. returning from a night of Democratic convention coverage,” David Axelrod, the former Barack Obama strategist and CNN analyst posted to X this week.

On Monday, the DNC took credit for projecting “Harris Walz: Joy and Hope” and “Project 2025 HQ” on the building, among other trolling messages.

But at the 16 Terrace restaurant — elevated above the city, perched from the 16th floor, the lights off Lake Michigan glistening in the background — there were no TVs to take in Harris’ primetime speech.

Jefferson Ettinger, a Republican in the medical device sector, told me, “Listen, Trump has issues.” He added: “Trump needs to watch his mouth.” But he was not eager to watch Harris speak in primetime in his own city, he told me.

“I don’t think you want to talk to us. We work for Fox News,” said one of two men sitting on the terrace here in suits and ties who appeared to be in their 30s, and who were buzzing about whether Beyoncé would perform before I approached them. (Beyoncé did not perform.)

The second I sat down next to two women drinking wine, one who described herself as “Margie,” a Capitol Hill staffer, she was already criticizing Democrats who projected the Trump messages onto the building.

“Maybe focus on your own stuff,” she said to her friend, here for a drink after a Cubs game, and described her boss as a bit of a “prick” and wore a No. 23 Cubs jersey for Ryne Sandberg, the Cubs hall of famer. “Don’t troll the other guy. He’s not even here. He’s in Arizona.”

“The bar is sick,” said a Newsmax reporter who has been coming here in the evenings this week. “This bar has been popping every night.”

But for the more than 100 people here, they couldn’t be farther away from Harris and her star turn at the convention.

“Honestly, I wish I was watching a Bears game,” said Margie.