In the morning hours leading up to Saturday’s #MillionMAGAMarch on November 14, videos showed a small crowd of demonstrators had arrived at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., to support President Donald Trump. Some people on Twitter shared videos of the crowd, saying it looked like the turnout was low two hours before the event was scheduled to begin.
The Million MAGA March was set for noon Eastern time in Freedom Plaza. As the videos show below, the crowd was thin at Freedom Plaza by just before 10 a.m. Eastern time. However, thousands had arrived by 45 minutes before the event, according to reports, and USA Today estimated “tens of thousands.” By nightfall violence erupted between Million MAGA marchers and counterprotesters, The Washington Post reported.
The Million MAGA March has also been called Stop the Steal and March for Trump. According to USA Today, there are more than 24 Facebook groups using one of those names as of Saturday morning. Many of those groups are set to private or send users to EventBrite links that are no longer available.
Here’s what you need to know:
WATCH: 2 Hours Before the Million MAGA March, People Were Trickling Into Freedom Plaza
#MarchForTrump in Freedom Plaza!
I didn’t do an exact count but ummm, I feel y’all might be a little under your goal of a million people 😂 maybe I’m wrong, will someone do a hand recount?
#MillionMAGAMarch #StopTheSteaI #MillionsMAGAMarch #MillionMAGAMarch2020
The video above shows how many people had arrived at the official location for the Million MAGA March at 9:47 a.m. “I didn’t do an exact count but ummm, I feel y’all might be a little under your goal of a million people 😂,” one person tweeted. “maybe I’m wrong, will someone do a hand recount?”
Another video taken around the same time showed a slightly larger crowd starting to come together under a Trump flag.
Latest from Freedom Plaza:
“I’ve seen bigger crowds of skateboarders smoking blunts and filming skate videos at Freedom Plaza,” one person tweeted in response to videos of the crowd.
Another tweet claimed to show “thousands” of Trump supporters driving toward D.C. on Saturday morning.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Trump’s motorcade drove past the plaza, and the hundreds of Trump supporters present cheered as he passed. Mark Knoller, CBS News’ White House Correspondent, tweeted, “Press pool reports Pres Trump drove through Freedom Plaza, where supporters are gathering for MAGA march and rally today. They chanted ‘USA, USA’ as he drove by, waving.”
News Reporters Estimated a Turnout of ‘Thousands’ Just Before Noon
BREAKING: Thousands gather for President Trump at #MillionsMAGAMarch #StopTheSteal protests at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC: @nbcwashington @MSNBC @NBCNews
The crowd of Trump supporters grew leading up to the noon start time. According to Shomari Stone, a D.C.-based reporter for NBC News, the crowd looked to be in the “thousands” at 11:13. USA Today called it “tens of thousands.”
Some Trump supporters said they were happy with the number of people present and the tone of the march. One person tweeted, “Massive crowd at Freedom Plaza, everyone in very high spirits and very well behaved.”
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted at 11:14, “AMAZING! More than one MILLION marchers for President @realDonaldTrump descend on the swamp in support. Best base in political history — we LOVE you guys!!! ❤️🇺🇸“
USA Today reported that demonstrators traveled from around the country to participate in the March.
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