Baltimore protestors rallied on Wednesday afternoon to condemn President Trump’s false claims that he won the contentious presidential election and that Democrats are “stealing” the election, as officials continue to count votes throughout the country.
“What matters is that what the people need and want is what we get,” said Sharon Black, an organizer with the Peoples Power Assembly, said. “We cannot tolerate, in this country, a fascist who basically steals the election by not counting every vote.”
Trump’s tweet from the wee hours of Wednesday morning falsely claiming that his opponents stole the election is hardly a surprise; the president has spent the months leading up to the election falsely arguing that the winner of the election needed to be declared immediately, or else it would indicate fraud on the part of Democrats.
As Black was speaking, she was notified that Trump’s campaign had filed a lawsuit demanding that Michigan temporarily stop counting votes until the campaign can review ballots that have already have been opened and processed. His campaign also has sued Pennsylvania and asked for a recount in Wisconsin.
Black called the news “just what we were expecting — that state by state, they're going to be pulling every kind of dirty trick.”
Rev. Annie Chambers, also of the Peoples Power Assembly, said people across the country are ready to take to the streets should Trump lose and refuse to hand over power peacefully.
“We are saying to Donald Trump and all the rest of ‘em, we're coming after you,” she said.
Chambers added that both Republicans and Democrats have not done enough for working class people during the pandemic, from failing to fund another round of stimulus relief for citizens to failing to deliver shelter to people experiencing homelessness.
“Everybody was calling me and asking me what to do if Trump wins,” she said. “I said, the same we do if Joe Biden wins. We gotta fight. This system is not set up for us. This system is set up for rich people.”
As the coronavirus pandemic continued to rage throughout the election season, more than 64 million Americans cast ballots by mail rather than hitting the polls.
In many states, including Maryland, election officials started the arduous process of counting mail-in ballots many days before election day arrived. But in the swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, state laws prohibit such preparation. Both factors mean the final results of the election may take several days — and neither mean there are any problems or inaccuracies.
The AP has already called Maryland for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, which was no surprise: the solidly blue state has now gone for Democrats in the eighth consecutive presidential election. Voters also re-elected Democrats in seven of eight U.S. House seats.
