by Naba’a Muhammad and Michael Z. Muhammad
The daily U.S. coronavirus death toll rocketed as weeks of rising infection rates kept soaring. With this Covid-19 backdrop, thousands of Donald Trump supporters converged on Washington, D.C., in a supportive effort for an embattled president billed as the “Million MAGA March.” MAGA is shorthand for the president’s signature slogan: “Make America Great Again.”
They vowed to back the president, who has continued to say the 2020 election for the White House was stolen from him. “Democrats are scheming to disenfranchise and nullify Republican votes. It’s up to the American people to stop it. Along with President Trump, we will NOT back down to ensure the integrity of this election for the good of the nation. This is a coalition/team effort. We need boots on the ground to protect the integrity of the vote,” declared www.millionmagamarch.us.
These self-described “Patriots” turned out carrying American flags, Trump banners, wearing festive costumes and with the vast majority displaying a face-mask-be-damned mentality while chanting, “Stop the Steal!” and “Four More Years!”
Also, on display was a deep distrust of government mainstream media outlets. Speaker after speaker condemned the control of mainstream media and what they called censorship. While the majority of the Trump army of supporters were White, rally speakers were Black, White, and Hispanic, and often proclaimed their belief that God was on their side and the side of the Trump cause. Speaker Alex Jones declared Trumpers to be the righteous. Right Side broadcaster Brian Glenn emphatically stated it was a spiritual battle between good and evil, and racism in America doesn’t exist.
Mr. Jones declared the day marked the start of a second American revolution. “The Satanist pedophiles that the Democrats represent control the corporations, Hollywood, and the blue cities and states,” Mr. Jones said. He ended his talk with a prayer from 2 Chronicles, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
The thread that wove the demonstration together was the belief the election was stolen from President Trump. A call for a complete audit of the votes, not a recount, needs to be made, said Trump backers. The country’s divide has been caused by the fake news media who are the people’s enemy, they added.
Samuel Boston from Florida said, “We will lose our democracy, country and foundational values if Trump does not retain office. What do you want open borders or law and order?”
Another speaker added, “The line in the sand is drawn here. We demand equal rights, justice, and free speech.”
The crowd applauded when the president briefly rode through the demonstration with his motorcade.
But the day before the Nov. 14 gathering in D.C. and “stop vote stealing” events reportedly planned in all 50 states, the state of Georgia joined Arizona in the win column for President-elect Joe Biden. It widened the Electoral College gap and popular vote gap that the longtime Democrat held over Mr. Trump. Mr. Biden was credited with 306 Electoral College votes over some 223 votes for Mr. Trump. It takes 270 votes to win the Electoral College and be installed as president of the United States.
None of that seemed to matter to supporters of Mr. Trump. “I’m going to continue to fight for truth & justice, even if I’m the only gosh darn person on the street corner. Freedom is worth fighting for. Making sure that we are counting every legal vote is worth fighting for,” vowed conservative activist Scott Presler on Twitter, where he has over 875,000 followers.
Passions were high and anger was both explosive and seething with onetime Trump advisor Steve Bannon condemned for allegedly threatening to behead federal workers, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI director Christopher Wray.
The Bannon declaration came during a livestream of “War Room: Pandemic,” his talk show and podcast. “I’d put the heads on pikes. Right. I’d put them at the two corners of the White House. As a warning to federal bureaucrats: Either get with the program or you’re gone,” he said. Twitter suspended the former Trump guru permanently but Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said the comments didn’t merit a suspension, according to a story reported by Reuters news agency.
The video has since been deleted from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube posts, but is still circulating elsewhere in cyberspace. The Twitter account @WarRoomPandemic was permanently suspended.
Varied groups, including the Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, Infowars loyalists, Groypers, Proud Boys, White nationalists, neo-Nazis, and some self-described die-hard MAGA advocates signed on and vowed to step up.
The collection of groups has assigned the gathering different names: the Million MAGA March, the March for Trump, Stop the Steal DC. But they convened around noon, with Freedom Plaza, just east of the White House, as a main gathering point and some protesters stretched from the Supreme Court building down to the National Mall.
“People want to show up and have their voice heard,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told Fox network when asked about the event. “I mean this president—look, he got more votes than any Republican nominee, or for president, I should say, in the history of our country and indeed he got more Republican votes as any nominee in the history of our party back in 2016.”
Conflict and possible violence was feared to come with a series of counter-events, including events called “F*** MAGA” from local anti-fascist and anarchist groups, who have brawled in the past with groups like the Proud Boys in cities like Portland.
A few skirmishes were seen but no major street battles were reported.
Mayor Muriel Bowser warned out-of-town visitors against bringing firearms to the city, noting D.C. has more strict firearm laws than other parts of the country. Gun owners can carry a concealed weapon with the proper license, but carrying a gun openly is prohibited. It is also illegal to possess a magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds
Enrique Tarrio, the Miami based chairman of the Proud Boys, spoke about plans with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Mr. Tarrio said he is concerned that vote counting during the election was not transparent. The number of voters in states like Wisconsin seemed exceptionally high, he said.
Abraham Lopez, a national committeeman for the National Hispanic Assembly, said more than a dozen Trump-supporting groups are behind the rally, whether called the Million MAGA March, the March for Trump or March for 45. Mr. Lopez told the South Florida Sentinel many members of the National Hispanic Assembly are concerned about voting irregularities that have far been debunked by elections officials in various states. “Our message is that every legal ballot should be counted, and every illegal ballot should not be counted,” he said. “Nothing more and nothing less.”
GOP Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said that Mr. Trump, while free to request recounts and present valid evidence of fraud, “is wrong to say that the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen—doing so weakens the cause of freedom here and around the world, weakens the institutions that lie at the foundations of the republic, and recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions.”
Fox News analyst Geraldo Rivera said Nov. 13 that Mr. Trump was “frustrated,” but “strong.” In a Fox News online article, Mr. Rivera said, “after speaking with the president by phone, he has ‘no doubt’ President Trump will run again in 2024 if his election lawsuits don’t alter the results of the 2020 election.”
Mr. Rivera told Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on “Outnumbered Overtime:” “Every impression he gave me, Harris, was if the process went against him and he was satisfied that every legitimate vote had been counted and every illegitimate vote had been thrown out … he would surrender.”
As Fox News noted, the “Trump team has been filing lawsuits in different states alleging mass voter fraud and procedural violations in the vote count—but has not provided evidence for these claims” and was losing cases in Pennsylvania, according to CNN.
But on Nov. 13, Mr. Trump tweeted: “This Election was Rigged, from Dominion all the way up & down!” reported Fox News. “Trump claimed on Twitter on Nov. 12 that Dominion Voting Systems deleted 2.7 million Trump votes nationwide. A Dominion spokesperson told Fox News that it ‘categorically denies any claims about any vote switching or alleged software issues’ with its voting systems. ‘For years the Dems have been preaching how unsafe and rigged our elections have been. Now they are saying what a wonderful job the Trump Administration did in making 2020 the most secure election ever. Actually this is true, except for what the Democrats did. Rigged Election!’ Trump tweeted,” said Fox News.
As the U.S. continues its emotional roller coaster ride in the aftermath of the national election, Nation of Islam Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, in a recent message at Mosque Maryam in Chicago, pointed out the deep divisions in American society.
“So that scripture if Satan cast out Satan and is divided against himself how then shall his kingdom stand? The house is divided against itself,” he said.
“So, the Bible says when you see Satan cast out Satan and he is divided against himself know that the end is nigh. The end is near; it’s knocking at the door. In fact, about it, it’s not knocking; it’s in now. Let us make a wise decision. Let our comportment, our disposition, our behavior, the tone of our speech be in harmony, and in accord with the knowledge of the time that we have been given from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” he said. Min. Farrakhan has said his followers are not to comment on the election but watch as “Allah (God) is speaking.”
Captions
A group of Japanese nationals gather on the streets of Scranton, Pa., to show their support for President Donald Trump on Nov. 9.
Photo: AP/Wide World Photos
Supporters of President Donald Trump pray as they protest the election outside of the Clark County Election Department, Nov. 8, in North Las Vegas. Photo: AP/Wide World Photos
Arizona protesters echo Trump’s stolen election claims Nov. 7. Photo: MGN Online
