Congressional Trump supporters gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court on Saturday afternoon amid an all-day effort supporting the president’s claims of election fraud.
The protest, organized by Women for America First co-founder Amy Kremer, featured speeches from prominent Trump defenders Rep. Louie Gohmert, businessman Mike Lindell, and American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp. An earlier rally near the Trump Hotel gave a prime speaking slot to Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene, who came under fire for her professed belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory.
“We have a great president. He has not given up this fight,” she told the thousands of people gathered in Freedom Plaza. “He will stay in this fight, no matter the outcome. And we have his back.”
Greene instructed the crowd “to show the swamp how real Americans work it out” by demonstrating in front of the Supreme Court and urging the conservative majority to deliver the election to Trump. The crowd erupted in cheers before walking up to the court, waving flags and singing songs, many of them original compositions, in support of the president.
Earlier in the day, the president, who had teased an appearance at the protest, drove by in his motorcade while on his way to a Virginia golf course. Trump’s presence was met with cheers and flag-waving from the crowd. As he passed, Trump gave the crowd a thumbs-up.
The jovial mood persisted throughout the march and at the Supreme Court. People in the crowd repeatedly cheered “Four more years!” and danced to the Village People’s “YMCA,” one of Trump’s signature campaign rally songs. Multiple people told the Washington Examiner that they had traveled from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Michigan to “stop the steal” allegedly perpetrated by state Democratic machine politics.
Gohmert, during a speech echoing the president’s criticisms of Dominion Voting Systems, jabbed at President-elect Joe Biden as a “cellar dweller” and “Beijing Biden,” saying that Democrats were working throughout the campaign to “steal the election and to silence conservatives and Republicans.” Gohmert also taunted Chief Justice John Roberts while demanding the Supreme Court consider settling the election.
Conservative radio host Sebastian Gorka, who briefly served in the Trump administration, drew cheers from the crowd when he urged the Electoral College to throw the election to the House of Representatives, where it would be decided by Republican-dominated state legislatures. Gorka also took shots at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, telling her to put him on “the list” of recalcitrant Trump supporters when Biden takes office in January.
“Get your ‘MAGA’ on,” Gorka said, urging Trump supporters to take to the streets in every state capital.
On the fringes of the protest, counterprotesters hurled epithets at the marchers, telling them to put masks on and informing them that many media outlets had called the race from Trump. Nearby Kremer’s rally, a group of local D.C. racial justice activists and the nationalist group the Proud Boys faced off, yelling at each other for several hours. Police formed a line between them, repulsing any member of one group advancing toward the other.
Throughout the day, a team of advertisers from the right-wing Epoch Times passed out copies of the paper, with a front page declaring that the election is “far from over.” Often, when confronted by skeptics, marchers held up the newspaper and pointed to the headline.
“The Electoral College hasn’t voted yet!” one Trump supporter shouted at a group of teenagers heckling him on Pennsylvania Avenue. “You’re too young to understand how important this is.”
