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(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 5, 2020, United States President Donald Trump gestures while speaking at a rally to support Republican Senate candidates at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia. President Donald Trump on December 22, 2020 rejected a $ 900 billion bipartisan Covid stimulus package, calling it “a disgrace” and demanding that lawmakers triple aid payments to Americans. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
WASHINGTON, United States – President Donald Trump is urging supporters to gather in Washington on January 6 for a last-minute rally to pressure Congress not to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
Thousands of supporters from across the country, from the group Women for America First, to StoptheSteal and the violent Proud Boys, are expected to arrive in the US capital pressing Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that massive electoral fraud was behind his defeat in the elections of November 3. .
Trump tweeted twice this weekend urging his supporters to attend, calling the election “the biggest scam in our nation’s history.”
“See you in Washington, DC, on January 6. Don’t miss it, ”he wrote on Sunday.
The rally sparked fears of renewed violence after the previous pro-Trump protest that included the Proud Boys on Dec. 12 saw several people stabbed and dozens arrested.
Trump appears to be hopeful that the protesters can pressure Congress to reject the final count of state voters and reverse their electoral defeat.
“We the people must go to the US Capitol lawn and take action and tell Congress #DoNotCertify,” StopTheSteal stated online.
“Congress cannot certify this fraudulent Electoral College,” they said.
On January 6, Vice President Mike Pence will lead Congress in certifying the Electoral College votes presented by each state, which represent the results of the popular vote.
In the joint session of the House and Senate, Pence will open and read the certificates that report the voter counts for each state and then declare the winner.
That process should be, as almost always, a formality.
Democrat Biden captured 306 voters, while Republican Trump only won 232.
The Trump campaign has lost dozens of court challenges in several disputed states, and judge after judge said they showed no evidence of any significant fraud.
But the session can be stalled if lawmakers from both houses file formal objections to either state’s report.
Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks told Fox News on Monday that he has the support of “dozens” of lawmakers to formally challenge the charges.
Meanwhile, Trump and his supporters have pressured Pence to unilaterally reject the electoral certificates of some pro-Biden states, a power that legal experts say Pence does not have.
Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger said Sunday that it was all an effort by “certain members of Congress and the president” to raise funds.
“It is a scam and it will disappoint people who believe this election was stolen,” he told CNN.
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