White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Slammed Over 'One Million Marchers' Claim for DC Rally

Daniel S. Levine

11/14/2020 06:17 pm EST

Thousands of President Donald Trump's supporters descended on Washington, D.C. Saturday morning as part of the Million MAGA March. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed "more than one MILLION" marchers showed up, although reporters who were at the rally estimate there were far less than that who showed up. McEnany's tweet was skewered on social media and reminded many how former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spent the Trump Administration's first hours falsely claiming the crowd at Trump's 2017 inauguration was larger than the crowd at President Barack Obama's inauguration.

The rally was a show of support for Trump and his baseless theory of "voter fraud" in the Nov. 3 election, despite no evidence of widespread fraud swaying the election result. The event started at Freedom Plaza, with people chanting "four more years" and "stop the steal" as they walked towards the Capitol, reports USA Today. There were scattered clashes between counter-protesters and Trump supporters, with 10 people arrested, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Four people were arrested for firearm violations and two for assault, police said.

Many of the attendees carried Trump's 2020 campaign flags and wore the red Make America Great Again hats. Most were also not wearing face masks, which can help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Attendees traveled from far outside the nation's capital, which voted overwhelmingly for President-elect Joe Biden.

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Trump has refused to concede the election, claiming "voter fraud," and many of his supporters at the rally echoed his talking points. "I don't understand how the country went to bed with Trump up by tons of votes on Election Night then days later Biden is called the winner," Marcello Milone of South Carolina told USA Today. "It doesn't make any sense."

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On the night of the election, Trump held leads in many of the swing states, but the counting of millions of mail-in and absentee ballots showed Biden in the lead. Some states, including Pennsylvania, had laws that kept mail-in ballots from being counted until after election day. Milone said there should be recounts because "we need the truth because this is a fundamental aspect of American democracy."

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There were several counter-protesters as well, celebrating Trump's loss. Most news outlets have since called Biden the victor of the election, projecting 306 Electoral College votes for the former vice president.

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Trump hinted he would attend the rally, but chose to go golfing instead. He did wave to his supporters from his vehicle as he left the White House though, eliciting cheers from his supporters. Trump also showed support on Twitter by sharing videos from the event. "Hundreds of thousands of people showing their support in D.C. They will not stand for a Rigged and Corrupt Election," Trump tweeted, again sharing a baseless claim that the election was "rigged."

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Some Twitter users pointed out how Biden's election win could be considered a "blowout." As of Saturday, Biden has an estimated 78.6 million votes, the most ever for a presidential candidate. He could win the popular vote by an estimated 6 million over Trump, who still received the second-most votes ever for a presidential candidate.

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Other Trump critics compared a screenshot of the MAGA rally crowd to a photo of what 1 million people really looks like. "A lot of people have noted that Kayleigh is lying, but after this past week, it's also possible these guys are just VERY bad at counting," author Jennifer Wright tweeted.

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