Thousands rally behind Trump at DC march

WASHINGTON — Fervent supporters of President Donald Trump rallied in Washington on Saturday behind his claim of a stolen election and swarmed his motorcade when he detoured for a drive-by on his way out of town.

“I justwant tokeepuphis spirits and let him knowwe support him,” Anthony Whittaker of Winchester, Virginia, said from outside the SupremeCourt, where a few thousand assembled after a march along Pennsylvania Avenue near the WhiteHouse.

A week after the presidential race was called for Democrat Joe Biden, their fury at the prospect of a transfer of executive power showed no signs of abating, taking a cue from a president unrelenting in asserting hewon.

The crowd was beginning to gather in the morning when cheers rang out as Trump’s limousine neared Freedom Plaza.

After making the short detour for the slow drive around the site, the motorcade headed to the president’s Virginia golf club.

The largely peaceful “Million MAGA March” was heavily promoted on social media, raising concerns that it could spark conflict with anti-Trump demonstrators, who have gathered near the White House in Black Lives Matter Plaza forweeks.

In preparation, police closed off wide swaths of downtown, where many stores have been boarded up since ElectionDay.

On Twitter, WhiteHouse press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed 1 million supporters had turned out for the event. Accounts on the ground suggested that estimate was wildly inflated.

“It’s not like theFourth of July or anything,” said a police officer who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.