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WASHINGTON: Thousands of Donald Trump supporters rallied in Washington on Saturday (Nov. 14), and the president made a step in his caravan while sticking to discredited claims that massive fraud denied him election victory.
Protesters near the White House greeted Trump’s brief appearance with savage cheers, salutes, and whistles, holding up signs and flags that read “The Greatest Presidency of All Time,” “Stop Theft,” and “Trump 2020: Keep America. United big “.
Several thousand people had gathered at noon in the city’s Freedom Square, with more arriving from all sides, waving flags and shouting “Four more years” in a festive atmosphere reminiscent of a Trump rally.
With the right-wing militia group Proud Boys also among the protesters, a large security presence was deployed in the capital to prevent clashes with anti-Trump events scheduled outside the Supreme Court.
The latest counts gave Trump’s Democratic challenger Joe Biden a solid final victory in the state-by-state Electoral College deciding the presidency, with 306 votes to Trump’s 232. 270 votes are required for the election.
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But Margarita Urtubey, 49, a horse breeder who flew in from Miami with her sister, told AFP the election was “so corrupt”, adding that “Trump overwhelmingly won. We are here to march for” stop the theft “of this. choice, to make our voice heard.”
Darion Schaublin, who was driving from Columbus, Ohio, came to protest the fact that “the whole system is rigged … in the way information gets to people.”
“The truth never comes out,” said the 26-year-old, who says he lost his job at a restaurant after refusing to wear a mask as protection against COVID-19.
Schaublin estimated there was a “95 percent” chance that Trump would not get a second term, “and I’m not sure the legitimacy of that.”
The last two undeclared states were summoned on Friday by US television networks: Biden won the former Republican stronghold of Georgia in a close race and Trump won North Carolina.
President Trump continues to impede Biden’s ability to prepare for his transition before he takes office on January 20 and has filed numerous unsuccessful lawsuits to challenge the vote count across the country.
On Friday, a Michigan judge issued another dismissal of the Republican fraud allegations.
Supporters of President Donald Trump attend pro-Trump marches on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin)
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“TIME WILL TELL”
Trump said Friday that “time will tell” if he remains president, in a momentary slip from his unprecedented refusal to acknowledge his electoral defeat.
Trump broke his silence after a week without comment on camera, speaking at a Rose Garden event to announce the imminent authorization of a coronavirus vaccine.
During a brief speech about the work of the vaccine, Trump insisted that he would never again call for a shutdown to slow the spread of the virus.
Then he added: “Whatever happens in the future, who knows what administration it will be, I guess time will tell.”
The hint of doubt came despite his continuing to claim that massive fraud, for which no evidence has been presented, robbed him of victory in the November 3 election.
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Despite the statement by their own intelligence officials Thursday that the elections were “the safest in US history,” Trump and his right-wing media allies show no signs of abandoning their quest for the results to be overturned. .
“President Trump thinks he will be President Trump, he will have a second term,” spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox News.
After stepping past protesters in Washington, Trump headed to his golf club on the outskirts of the capital on Saturday for his usual weekend routine.
Half a dozen supporters stood on one side of the entrance with Trump flags, and roughly the same number stood on the opposite side with a large “Biden Harris” sign and one that read, “We vote. You’re fired.”
Biden is constantly preparing for power, and many world leaders congratulate him on his victory.
China was the last nation on board, and a Foreign Ministry spokesman said: “We express our congratulations.”
