President Donald Trump is calling for "wild" protests to occur in the nation's capital on January 6, the final date on which he and his most hard-line Republican allies desperately hope to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
Trump, who twice campaigned on being the "law and order" candidate, is hoping to create chaos in Washington two weeks before Inauguration Day. As he continues to baselessly claim that it's "statistically impossible" he lost, Trump Saturday urged his supporters to interrupt what is typically an innocuous joint session of Congress on January 6 in which they will count Biden's 306 to 232 win among state electoral votes. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged Republicans not to object to the election results, but some GOP lawmakers and far-right conspiracy theorists say they plan to disrupt the final procedural hurdle before Biden takes office.
"Peter Navarro releases 36-page report alleging election fraud 'more than sufficient' to swing victory to Trump," the president tweeted Saturday. "A great report by Peter. Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!"
Twitter flagged Trump's claim as "disputed," as it's done often of late.
Legal experts say the January 6 gathering of House and Senate lawmakers, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, is traditionally just a formality in which Congress received and approves the long-since decided state electoral votes. But several vehemently pro-Trump Republicans—Alabama's Mo Brooks and Georgia's Representative-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene, along with Alabama's senator-elect Tommy Tuberville—say they plan to disrupt the rudimentary process next month.
"We're gonna get that all corrected," Tuberville, who defeated Trump's ex-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Alabama's Senate race, said of Biden's victory. "Don't give up. It's impossible. It is impossible what happened."
But many Republicans and Washington law experts say Trump has zero chance of stalling the results and that his call for "wild" protests on January 6 is just a final desperate stunt. Trevor Potter, Republican former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, penned a Washington Post essay warning American voters, "January 6 is not another Election Day. Don't let President Trump convince you it is."
This comes as McConnell warned Republican senators Tuesday in a private call not to object to the January 6 vote, Politico reported.
Trump has also drummed up the support of far-right conspiracy theorists and others who are calling for a full-on civil war in America. Alex Jones told a crowd of Trump supporters in Washington that Biden "will be removed one way or another" from the White House. Jones, "Proud Boys" members and other fanatical Trump backers have repeatedly told the president they will not allow him to be removed from office.
That potentially violent and chaotic sentiment appears to be fully supported by the president himself.
"He 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!" Trump tweeted Saturday.
Newsweek reached out to the White House as well as the Tuberville and Brooks offices for additional remarks Saturday morning.
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December 19, 2020 at 11:50PM
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Trump Encourages 'Wild' Protests in D.C. on Date of Electoral College Vote Count - Newsweek
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