President Trump revved up supporters Wednesday at a rally close to the White Home as Congress ready to convene in a joint session to depend the electoral votes, the ultimate step earlier than President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated January 20. The president urged his supporters to march on the Capitol, and even advised the group “I will be with you” on the march to the Capitol, though no such two-mile stroll was on the president’s schedule.
Mr. Trump repeated false claims that the election was rigged, that Mr. Biden did not win, and that Vice President Mike Pence can change the end result of the election.
“I hope Mike goes to do the proper factor, I hope so. I hope so. As a result of if Mike Pence does the proper factor, we win the election,” Mr. Trump falsely stated. “… He has absolutely the proper to do it. We’re supposed to guard our nation, assist our nation, assist our Structure, and shield our Structure.”
The president claimed he simply spoke with Pence, and advised his vp it does not take braveness to do what he desires.
“I stated, ‘Mike, that does not take braveness. What takes braveness is to do nothing,'” the president relayed to his supporters.
After repeated failed makes an attempt to reverse the end result of the election within the courts and by pressuring state legislatures to seat their very own slate of electors, Mr. Trump is now making yet one more last-ditch effort, trying to Republicans in Congress and Vice President Mike Pence to ship him a second time period.
Pence, as president of the Senate, will preside over the joint session, throughout which every state’s electoral votes are learn aloud and tallied. Pence doesn’t have the authority to do what Mr. Trump is suggesting.
Nonetheless, some GOP senators and dozens of Republicans within the Home plan to problem the election outcomes from some battleground states by making written objections to their electoral votes. The efforts, although, can be futile, as sustaining an objection and invalidating a state’s votes requires assist from a easy majority of each the Home and the Senate. Democrats maintain a majority of seats within the decrease chamber, and are extremely unlikely to hitch the challenges to electoral votes solid for Mr. Biden. A variety of Republicans have additionally referred to as such efforts unconstitutional.
However Mr. Trump did not cease at his need to overturn the outcomes of the election on Wednesday. He additionally stated he desires to rid the Republican Get together of “weak” members of Congress, like “Liz Cheney,” the third-ranked Home Republican and solely lady in Home GOP management.
Whereas the joint session convenes on Capitol Hill, 1000’s of Mr. Trump’s supporters have descended on Washington, D.C., to attend the rally on the Ellipse, a park positioned between the White Home and the Washington Monument, and protest the election outcomes.
The District of Columbia Nationwide Guard has activated 340 members to assist the D.C. Metropolitan Police in the course of the pro-Trump demonstrations in response to a request from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.