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US-VOTE NEWSERIES
Trump loyalists march in Washington to contest vote result
WASHINGTON, Nov 14, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Thousands of Donald Trump
supporters rallied in Washington on Saturday, with the president
making a drive-past in his motorcade as he sticks to discredited
claims that mass fraud denied him election victory.
Marchers close to the White House greeted Trump’s brief appearance
with wild cheers, waving and whistles, holding signs and flags saying
“Best prez ever,” “Stop the steal” and “Trump 2020: Keep America
Great.”
Several thousand people had gathered by noon on the city’s Freedom
Plaza, with more still arriving from all sides, waving flags and
shouting “Four More Years” in a festive atmosphere reminiscent of a
Trump rally.
With right-wing militia group the Proud Boys also among those
rallying, a large security presence was deployed in the capital to
prevent clashes with anti-Trump events scheduled outside the Supreme
Court.
The latest tallies gave Trump’s Democratic challenger Joe Biden a
solid final win in the state-by-state Electoral College that decides
the presidency, with 306 votes against Trump’s 232. Two hundred
seventy votes are required for election.
But Margarita Urtubey, 49, a horse breeder who flew in from Miami
with her sister, told AFP 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.”
Darion Schaublin, who drove from Columbus, Ohio, came to protest the
fact “the whole system’s rigged… in the way that the information is
getting to the people.”
“The truth never actually gets out,” said the 26-year-old, who says
he lost his job in a restaurant after refusing to wear a mask as
protection from Covid-19.
Schaublin estimated there was a “95 percent” chance Trump would not
have a second term — “and I’m not sure of the legitimacy of that.”
The final two undeclared states were called on Friday by US
television networks — with Biden winning the former Republican
stronghold of Georgia in a close race, and Trump winning North
Carolina.
President Trump continues to impede Biden’s ability to prepare for
his transition ahead of inauguration on January 20 and has filed
numerous lawsuits — unsuccessfully — to challenge vote counts around
the country.
On Friday, a judge in Michigan issued another rejection of
Republican claims of fraud.
– ‘Time will tell’ –
Trump said Friday that “time will tell” if he remains president, in
a momentary slip of his unprecedented refusal to concede his election
defeat.
Trump broke his silence after a week without on-camera comments,
speaking at a Rose Garden event to herald the imminent authorization
of a coronavirus vaccine.
During a short speech about the vaccine work, Trump insisted that he
would never again call for a lockdown to curb the virus’s spread.
Then he added, “Whatever happens in the future, who knows which
administration it will be, I guess time will tell.”
The hint of doubt came despite him continuing to claim that mass
fraud — for which no evidence has been produced — robbed him of
victory in the November 3 election.
Despite his own intelligence officials’ declaration Thursday that
the election was “the most secure in American history,” Trump and his
right-wing media allies show no sign of giving up their quest to get
the results overturned.
“President Trump believes he will be President Trump, have a second
term,” spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox News.
After driving past demonstrators in Washington, Trump headed
Saturday to his golf club outside the capital on his regular weekend
routine.
Half a dozen supporters stood at one side of the entrance with Trump
flags, and about the same number stood on the opposite side with a big
“Biden Harris” sign and one that said: “We voted. You’re fired.”
Biden is steadily preparing for power, with many world leaders
congratulating him on his victory.
China was the latest nation on board, with a foreign ministry
spokesman saying, “We express our congratulations.”
BSS/AFP/MRU/2255hrs