WASHINGTON — For the third time in two months, pro-Trump organizations have congregated in Washington to continue protests of election results as Congress is poised to certify President-elect Joe Biden's win on Wednesday.
Organizers of The Silent Majority and the Eighty Percent Coalition said they hope to see representatives share the concerns of some of their constituents during Wednesday's congressional meeting to certify the results — and object.
This comes after dozens of lawsuits alleging voter fraud have been denied, dismissed, or withdrawn since the election was called for President-elect Joe Biden.
Multiple house representatives and some senators have pledged to object to certifying the election results Wednesday, including some in The Silent Majority president's home state of South Carolina.
James Epley founded The Silent Majority and ran for a congressional seat in South Carolina two years ago. Since then, he's organized multiple rallies for the President in South Carolina.
He drove his truck to DC to protest on the National Mall for the next few days, as Congress meets to certify the election results.
Despite no evidence being presented outlining election fraud, he said he still does not believe the election was legitimate.
“If you’re going to at least move forward from this on either side, then you need to have confidence in the process, and you should have transparency," Epley said. "There should be no opposition to do an audit of the things to assure everyone that it is legitimate.”
Epley said that his group's concerns are for the long-term effects of this election.
“At the end of the day, who won the presidential election isn’t the issue for most people," he said. "Most people just want to make sure that we protect the process and that we have legitimacy … And that’s what we’re here for, what we’re advocating for, and that’s what we want to make sure that our reps hear our concerns and see if they will in fact act on those concerns.”
Cindy Chafian said she founded the Eighty Percent Coalition a few weeks ago to unite conservatives in their shared beliefs, including concerns about the validity of this election.
She said she based the name on Reagan's rule that one should stand with someone if they share 80% of their beliefs instead of focusing on the 20% where they differ.
The coalition hosted a rally on Freedom Plaza Tuesday to "save America."
“I believe in making sure that elections are fair, and that are elections are transparent and that everybody has the ability to vote who wants to vote, that they have the ability to do that," Chafian said. "I just want to focus on what we can do to heal this country.”
Chafian said part of that healing comes from giving a voice to people who she said have been censored leading up to and since the election — in addition to creating a coalition of like-minded voters.
When asked if moving forward she believes conservatism will be tied to President Trump, or if they will eschew his attachment if Congress certifies Biden's win, she adamantly said she would stand behind the current President.
“We agree with him, and we stand with him because we believe that he’s fighting for us," she said. "So moving forward, there’s rumors of a party split and all of that. I can’t even get into that right now, but what we believe in is the President sees the problem, he sees the corruption and we believe he’s rooting it out.”
Chafian said if Congress certifies the election in Biden's favor, it will be difficult to accept. She only said that she would cross that bridge when they get to it.
For now, she said she's looking forward to hearing President Trump speak at Women for America First's rally at The Ellipse Wednesday, which he announced he would be doing at 11 a.m. via Twitter.