Trump: Supporters Should Join ‘Wild’ Protest in DC on Jan. 6

Zachary Stieber
12/19/2020
Updated:
12/22/2020

President Donald Trump on Saturday called on supporters to join in a planned protest in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump alleged in a tweet that it was “statistically impossible” for him to have lost the 2020 election, referring to a report that his trade adviser Peter Navarro released this week.

He then added: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

In another missive, the president said Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden didn’t win the election.

“He lost all 6 Swing States, by a lot. They then dumped hundreds of thousands of votes in each one, and got caught. Now Republican politicians have to fight so that their great victory is not stolen. Don’t be weak fools!” he wrote.

Biden has declared victory in the election, referring to certified vote counts from all 50 states. Trump and other Republicans are contesting election results in courts in key states. The Epoch Times is not calling the race at this time.

Navarro released a report that alleged the election “may well have been stolen” from Trump.

“If these election irregularities are not fully investigated prior to Inauguration Day and thereby effectively allowed to stand, this nation runs the very real risk of never being able to have a fair presidential election again,” Navarro said in the report.

Trump supporters are expected to gather in the nation’s capital as members of Congress convene in a joint session on Jan. 6 to count electoral votes. “Stop the Steal” organizers have said they'll hold an event.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden walks in Wilmington, Del., on Dec. 17, 2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden walks in Wilmington, Del., on Dec. 17, 2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
There’s an outside possibility that Congress moves to nullify some state’s votes, or change them from a Democratic slate of electors to a Republican one, but some experts believe that is unlikely.

During the counting, a partnership of at least one representative and at least one senator can file objections in writing to a state’s votes. That triggers the chambers to withdraw and debate the objection. The chambers can then vote on the objection; it requires a simple majority in each chamber to be withheld.

A handful of people who will be in the House of Representatives when Congress meets—Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and Rep.-elects Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.), and Bob Good (R-Va.)—have committed to filing objections. At least five senators or senators-elect have said they aren’t ruling out joining them.

Republican Senate leadership and many Democrats have derided the plans.

“There is 0.00 chance the House reverses the election,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) wrote on Twitter.

“I think on the basis of the way that the system works, the decision by the Electoral College yesterday was determinative,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters this week, referring to electors casting votes in their respective states.

“The Electoral College submitted its vote. And I also think as we look into next year, it’s very important that each of us pledges to work with President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect [Kamala] Harris,” Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told reporters.