President Donald Trump says he will march to Capitol Hill with the thousands of protesters who arrived in Washington, D.C., to protest the result of the election Wednesday.
Trump spoke to the large protest Wednesday afternoon, laying out once again his unfounded accusations of election fraud. Trump and his campaign have filed roughly 40 lawsuits since Nov. 3 challenging the election result, all of which failed due to lack of evidence. The protesters plan to walk to the Capitol as Congress accepts the Electoral College’s certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Trump says he will “be there with you” as they walk down to the Capitol after the speech to protest the certification of the Electoral College results.
— Emma Kinery (@EmmaKinery) January 6, 2021
Trump egged on his supporters throughout his speech, calling alleged dumps of Biden votes on election night “explosions of bullshit.” (RELATED: Rudy Giuliani Says America Needs ‘Trial By Combat’ To Decide Election)
TRUMP: “Explosions of BULSHIT” is how Trump described the counting of votes. Crowd chants “bull-shit!” pic.twitter.com/CaRvKXeyKN
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 6, 2021
Marching with the protesters was not on Trump’s schedule and it is unclear whether the Secret Service is prepared for such an undertaking.
Trump also pressured Vice President Mike Pence to use his procedural role in announcing Biden’s victory to Congress to “decertify” the Electoral College vote. Pence does not have such authority.
A group of roughly a dozen Republican senators, led by Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, plans to object to the certification. Their Republican colleagues have criticized the effort, however, and the objections are likely to be symbolic.
Pence’s procedural role allows him to hear or overrule objections to Biden’s win. When Biden was in Pence’s same position following the 2016 election, Biden overruled objections from his fellow Democrats.