President Donald Trump on Wednesday told a rally of his supporters outside the White House that he would never concede that he lost the election, as Congress readied to certify Joe Biden’s victory.
“I will never give up. We will never concede,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “We will stop the steal.”
Wearing “Make America Great Again” caps and sharing biscuits and beers, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters also insisted they would never accept Joe Biden as president as they traveled by bus from near Boston to Washington to protest Congress’s expected certification of his White House victory.
“We’re not going to roll over and let this go. There’s no way,” says Sue Ianni, an official with the pro-Trump, pro-straight organization Super Fun Happy America, which chartered six buses carrying about 300 protesters for the demonstration in the US capital.
“We will fight tooth and nail. This isn’t over just if Biden gets inaugurated if that happens. We’ll never stop fighting. And Trump will be our president for the next four years, no matter who they inaugurate,” she adds.
Despite Congress all but certain later Wednesday to certify the Electoral College results that determined Biden the winner of the presidential race, the busload of Trump supporters that AFP traveled with were in festive spirits.
Dressed in red “MAGA” sweaters, they took selfies and passed around snacks on the ten-hour trip. Even the driver wore a “MAGA” cap.
“I’ve never had the opportunity to do something like this before,” says Vincent Petroni, a young man who calls himself a member of the far-right Proud Boys group, whose leader was arrested in Washington on Monday for torching a Black Lives Matter banner. “Normally, I’m a very mellow guy. I don’t like conflict,” he adds. “And I’m not going there for conflict. But tensions are too high in this day and age. Enough is enough. I need to go down, show my support — support President Trump who supports the ideals that I stand for — in a peaceful protest manner.”
AFP
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