Pro-Trump Crowds Build in Washington Before Final Election Rite

(Bloomberg) -- More than 1,000 people gathered at a park south of the White House before dawn on Wednesday to rally in support of President Donald Trump as Congress prepared to seal Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.

With results from two runoff elections in Georgia suggesting Democrats may retake the Senate, and Congress set to affirm Biden’s win at the event starting at 1 p.m. local time, tensions were high in the U.S. capital. Leaning on debunked theories of a rigged vote, Trump has called on his supporters to “stop the steal” and make a stand for his presidency.

At least three separate pro-Trump rallies are expected in Washington, and many local businesses boarded up their doors and windows in anticipation of possible violence. Mayor Muriel Bowser called out unarmed National Guard troops to bolster a heavy police presence.

Trump supporters waving flags and wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats at a morning rally in the Ellipse adjacent to the White House said they were there because they believe Trump was being illegally denied a second term.

“The election was stolen and we have to do something to save the country,” said Colleen Murphy, 53, who traveled from Wisconsin for the rally. “I think Trump has a trump card up his sleeve.”

The president has said he would address his supporters at the Ellipse rally at 11 a.m. He has also tweeted links to the rallies that direct people to a fundraising page.

Sporadic violence between pro- and anti-Trump protesters occurred in Washington just after the November election, before all the states had certified their votes. Officials worry something similar could happen this week, especially if protesters from both sides confront each other on the streets.

While the counting of the Electoral College votes in Congress is largely symbolic, a group of Republican lawmakers has vowed to contest the results, delaying completion of the count into late Wednesday or even Thursday morning.

Beyond the Ellipse, rallies are also expected to take place Wednesday outside the Capitol and in Freedom Plaza, just off Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House.

Final Act in Trump’s Defeat Pits Republicans Against Republicans

Outside the Capitol, a smaller crowd waving “Trump 2020” flags gathered in front of barricades, chanting their support for the president. Inside the building, lawmakers began assembling to digest the possible shift in power in the Senate exactly two weeks before Biden’s inauguration.

A 37-year-old woman from New Jersey named Lauren -- she declined to give her last name -- said she believes the November election was rigged by China’s Communist Party.

“I’m here to fight for the president,” she said. “The election was fraudulent.”

Among the speakers scheduled to address the crowds later Wednesday are Trump confidant Roger Stone and George Papadopoulos, both of whom were pardoned by the president late last year.

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