After President Trump lost in the 2020 elections, many supporters of the president, unable to accept the results, took it upon themselves to “advocate for democracy.” MAGA hats and Trump-Pence 2020 posters flocked to the nation’s capital just hours after Georgia and North Carolina were called, and marched for soon-to-be former President Trump’s continuation in the White House. 

Around noon time on Nov. 14, supporters of the president commenced their demonstration, called Million MAGA March, east of the White House at Freedom Plaza. Though the crowd consisted of a variety of Trump supporters with differing core values, their unwavering faith in the 45th president painted them as a united front. Mingled with the mainstream loyalists were far-right members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia group. Conspiracy theorist and far-right radio commenter Alex Jones spoke at the march too, as well as podcaster Nick Fuentes, who attended the deadly 2017 Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally.

Just a day before, President Trump picked up on the incoming swarm of support for his voter fraud rhetoric and tweeted that he might make an appearance. However, on the day of the demonstration, he was only seen giving a thumbs-up to the crowd from his motorcade to yet another golf course. 

While the demonstration was mostly peaceful during the daytime, the march took a turn as it approached nighttime. Fights began to break out between counter-protestors and Trump supporters. 21 people were arrested on the charges of assault, possession of weapons, or destruction of property. At one instance, the Washington, D.C. police confiscated eight unregistered firearms from the people arrested, many of whom claimed that they were not aware that they had to possess a license in D.C. to be able to carry. Among the firearms recovered, one of them was a loaded submachine gun. 

The 2020 presidential election was called by the Associated Press on Nov. 7, declaring Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. However, even before the election, Trump has urged his followers to “go into the poll and watch very carefully” during the debate. Furthermore, after election night, President Trump has been constantly declaring his victory, stating the votes were rigged, and he is not conceding. This has sparked a nationwide controversy, as his administration is also playing along in his game and blocking the Biden administration from a peaceful transition of power through debriefing rejections on the pandemic and such. 

“More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” President-elect Biden stated during a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware. “So it’s important that it be done, that there be coordination now, now, as rapidly as we can get that done.” 

In the very same place that celebrated Biden’s victory in the 2020 elections and an end of Trump’s America, the MAGA march signifies more than just opposition: it symbolizes an unrepairable division. 

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