Supporters of US President Donald Trump are returning to Washington and other cities nationwide for rallies to back his desperate efforts to subvert the election.
The rallies on Saturday come a month after a pro-Trump demonstration that drew at least 10,000 people to the capital. That day began with Trump thrilling supporters when his motorcade passed by and ended with scattered clashes between his loyalists and local activists near Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House.
An anti-Trump group called a rally near the White House on Saturday as well, raising the potential for a repeat of clashes that occurred November 14.
Saturday’s pro-Trump rallies are meant as a show of force just two days before the Electoral College meets to formally elect Democrat Joe Biden as the next president. Trump refuses to concede the election, citing baseless claims of fraud.
Organizers Stop The Steal- which is linked Trump’s recently pardoned former national security adviser, Roger Stone- and church groups urged supporters to turn out to “Jericho Marches” and prayer rallies. These are planned at Washington’s National Mall and in the capitals of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona, where Trump’s campaign has questioned vote counts.
The Washington rally will begin with marches around the US Capitol, the US Supreme Court and Justice Department “with prayers for the walls of corruption and election fraud to fall down.”
The plans reference the Biblical miracle of the battle of Jericho, in which the walls of the city crumbled after priests and soldiers marched around it.
More than 50 federal and state court rulings have upheld Biden’s victory over President Trump. The US Supreme Court on Friday rejected a long-shot lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states.
Trump has refused to concede defeat, alleging without evidence that he was denied victory by massive fraud.
Rita Osakwe/Agency Reports