Supporters of President Donald Trump rallied in the nation’s capital on Saturday as the president still refuses to accept his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, continues to politicize the response to coronavirus pandemic, and the number of Covid-19 infections in the U.S. again shatters records.
Rally-goers, who included members of the far-right Proud Boys, echoed the president’s claims, with chants of “Stop the steal” and placards that read “Trump 2020,” local NBC4 reported.
Many demonstrators can be seen in photos and videos rejecting public health guidance on curbing the spread of the coronavirus by rejecting masks and social distancing.
According to CNN, there were three separate rallies that converged, all joined in their errant message that the election—assessed by election officials as “the most secure in American history”—was “stolen.”
As least one of the gatherings had been billed as the “Million MAGA March,” though, as CNN noted, the number of attendees was in the thousands.
Trump offered his nod of approval to the demonstrators with a drive-by. “After making the short detour for the slow drive around Freedom Plaza, where people were gathering for the afternoon rally, the motorcade headed to the president’s club,” the Associated Press reported, referring to the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
Counter-protesters were on the ground as well to deliver their message.
The #MillionMAGAMarch hashtag was also the target of creative Trump detractors, as Twitter users flooded the hashtag with images of pancakes.