Die-hard Trump fans plan to descend on Washington in December and rally around the president as he wages a legal battle against the election results.
The event, a follow-up to last weekend’s “March for Trump,” will encourage the president to “keep fighting,” said Chris Barron, a spokesman for Women for America First, the group organizing it. The group, which estimates more than 100,000 attendees turned out for Trump last week, expects massive attendance this week as well. The majority of Republicans don’t believe the election was “free and fair,” according to recent polling.
The original march featured a large cast of Trump partisans, including Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp. It was one of many pro-Trump events that all converged on downtown Washington throughout the afternoon. The march teased another roster of “conservative leaders” but has not confirmed the lineup yet, Barron told the Washington Examiner.
The event’s website advertises the March for Trump as a demonstration intended to “demand transparency and protect election integrity.”
“We’re not backing down,” said Kylie Kremer, who organized the first rally along with Women for America First co-founder Amy Kremer, in a Wednesday radio interview. She added that she expects the second march, set for Dec.12, two days before the Electoral College’s officially votes for President-elect Joe Biden, to be a “huge event.”
Referencing the success of the Tea Party during former President Barack Obama’s first term, Kremer said that she expects the pro-Trump movement to live on with similar vigor.
Before last week’s march, Trump announced on Twitter that he would likely pay a visit to his supporters. He did, driving by on Saturday morning and drawing huge cheers from the crowd assembling near the White House. Trump gave the crowd a thumbs-up from within his vehicle.
Throughout the rest of the day, Trump’s supporters chanted slogans such as “Four more years!” and “Stop the steal,” a reference to the theory that Democratic operatives rigged the election in favor of Joe Biden. The march concluded at the Supreme Court, where a series of Trump supporters gave speeches about the importance of election integrity.
The crowds of Trump supporters clashed with anti-Trump activists once evening fell in a series of often violent altercations. Some videos showed anti-Trump protesters shooting fireworks at people dining near the White House. Others showed fistfights between the two groups and counterprotesters spitting on people decked out in Trump gear. Still, others showed Trump supporters tearing down Black Lives Matter signs.
Trump weighed in on the aftermath on Twitter, condemning the violence on “ANTIFA SCUM.”
After the march, anti-Trump protesters recommitted to demonstrating against the president until he leaves office in January.
Since the “March for Trump,” a series of rallies have sprung up in states where the Trump campaign alleged voter fraud. In Georgia on Monday, hundreds of Trump supporters gathered outside the Capitol building in Atlanta, demanding the state “audit the vote.” The protest will continue throughout the week, according to organizers.
