We’re not Don yet
Trump loyalists mount last stand to contest election result
WASHINGTON: Thousands of diehard Donald Trump supporters rallied for a last stand on Sunday (AEST) in Washington, chanting “four more years” and blaming fraud for an election defeat that will force the president to vacate the White House after just one term.
Mr Trump himself made a drive-past in his armoured motorcade, on his way to play golf, smiling through his limousine window to wild cheers and signs saying “Best prez ever” and “Trump 2020: Keep America Great”.
The Republican is sticking to discredited claims of mass fraud and claiming he defeated President-elect Joe Biden, marking another unprecedented challenge to US democratic norms as his time in office runs down.
At least 10,000 people – few wearing masks – massed on the city’s Freedom Plaza before marching towards the Supreme Court, brandishing flags in a raucous atmosphere reminiscent of a Trump campaign rally.
“President Trump deserves to see who’s behind him, he deserves to feel the love,” marcher Kris Napolitana, from Baltimore, said.
“I believe that he’s going to win when all the fraud and cheating is found out.”
With right-wing militia group the Proud Boys also among those attending, a large security presence was deployed to prevent clashes with anti-trump events out
side the Supreme Court. Groups of counter-protesters stood nearby, some yelling about social justice and Trump supporters not wearing masks.
There were a number of scuffles, but no major violence was reported.
By late afternoon, Washington police said there had been 10 arrests, including four for firearm violations and one for assault on a police officer.
The latest tallies gave the Democrat Mr Biden a clear win in the state-by-state Electoral College that decides the presidency, with 306 votes against Trump’s 232.
But Margarita Urtubey, 49, a horse breeder who flew in from Miami with her sister, said the election was “so corrupt”, adding: “Trump won by a landslide. We are here to
march for the ‘stop the steal’ of this election, to make our voice heard.”
With the march under way, Mr Trump tweeted that “hundreds of thousands” had turned out, while his spokeswoman Kayleigh Mcenany made the greatly exaggerated claim that more than a million people were present.
But the turnout was undoubtedly high for a strongly Democratic city, boosted by protesters from around the country, from Florida to Pennsylvania to Colorado.
Kathlin Erickson, who said she flew from Colorado on a plane “filled with Trump supporters”, kept alive hopes of a second Trump administration.
“A Trump victory? That’s a long shot, but anything is possible with God,” she said.