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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Supporters of President Donald Trump will take to the streets on Saturday to back up his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud as he pursues a series of far-reaching legal challenges to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Trump has made little progress in court with his lawsuits and for the first time on Friday he began to sound doubtful about his prospects, telling reporters that “time will tell” who sits in the White House as of January 20.
There have been other pro-Trump protests across the country since Biden was cast as the winner on November 7, but they have been small and have developed with few incidents.
Pro-Trump rallies in Washington and other cities are scheduled to feature a mix of the president’s supporters, far-right personalities, and members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys militia in a public display of support for his effort to stay in power.
Organizers have given the rallies various names, including the MAGA Million March, the March for Trump and Stop the Steal. MAGA is an acronym for the Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” Trump has tweeted his support.
Some leftist groups are planning counter-demonstrations in Washington and other cities.
Biden further solidified his victory on Friday when Edison Research results showed him winning Georgia, giving him a final tally of 306 Electoral College votes, far more than the 270 needed to be elected president and up from 232 for Trump.
The 306 votes were equal to those won by Trump in his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton, which he later called “overwhelming.”
Trump briefly appeared to come close to acknowledging the likelihood that he will leave the White House in January during remarks at a White House event.
“This administration will not go into a lockdown. Hopefully, uh, whatever happens down the road, who knows what administration it will be? I guess time will tell,” Trump said in his first public remarks since Biden was screened. as the winner of the election a week ago.
With the election outcome becoming clearer, Trump has discussed with his advisers possible companies and media appearances that would keep him in the limelight ahead of a possible 2024 run for the White House, his advisers said.
He is considering starting a television channel or social media company to compete with those he felt betrayed him and stifled his ability to communicate directly with Americans, according to several advisers.
In the short term, Trump is expected to campaign for Republican candidates in Georgia ahead of the two January 5 runoff elections that will determine which party controls the United States Senate.
FOUL IN COURT
Trump has refused to bow to Biden, claiming without proof that he was duped by widespread election fraud. State election officials do not report serious wrongdoing, and several of their legal challenges have failed in court.
A Michigan state court on Friday rejected a request by Trump supporters to block the certification of votes in Detroit, which was largely in favor of Biden. And Trump’s campaign attorneys dropped a lawsuit in Arizona after the final vote count there rendered it void.
Federal election security officials have found no evidence that any voting system has eliminated, lost or changed votes, “or has been compromised in any way,” two security groups said in a statement issued Thursday by the main voting agency. cybersecurity of the United States.
To win a second term, Trump would need to reverse Biden’s leadership in at least three states, but so far he has not been able to present evidence that he could do so in any of them.
States face a December 8 deadline to certify their elections and elect voters to the Electoral College, which will officially select the new president on December 14.
Trump’s refusal to accept defeat has stalled the official transition. The federal agency providing funding to an incoming president-elect, the General Services Administration, has yet to acknowledge Biden’s victory, denying him access to federal office space and resources.
But Biden, who will meet with transition advisers on Saturday in his home state of Delaware, has moved forward with the process, identifying legislative priorities, reviewing federal agency policies and preparing to fill thousands of jobs in the new administration.
“We are moving forward with the transition,” said Jen Psaki, senior adviser to Biden’s transition team, while emphasizing that Biden still needs “real-time information” from the Trump administration to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and threats. to national security.
Although the national popular vote does not determine the outcome of the election, Biden was ahead by more than 5.3 million votes, or 3.4 percentage points. His participation in the popular vote, 50.8%, was slightly higher than that of Ronald Reagan in 1980, when he defeated incumbent Jimmy Carter.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Ned Parker, Kristina Cooke, John Whitesides, and Ted Hesson; edited by William Mallard)
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