AUGUSTA — Half-an-hour after the Associated Press and other news outlets called the election for Joe Biden, some of President Donald Trump’s supporters gathered in front of the Blaine House, calling for a recount of the election votes.
The supporters showed up, donned in red “Make America Great Again” gear with signs in hand.
They chanted, “stop the steal” and “recount the vote” in between reciting the Pledge of Allegiance while waving their American Flags.
The protest, which had been planned prior to the election being called, was planned by the University of Maine College Republicans.
“We love our president and think the election was stolen from him,” Cathy Cooper said. “Even though the race has been called, I don’t know if Trump will get it, but he will still be leader of the Republican party.”
Cooper, a self-described college-educated woman, originally was rooting for Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, but became a fan of Trump’s after he “quickly” got policy through in the first couple months of his presidency.
She voted in person, and at the rally stood alongside Roseanne McMenemy, who held a pink and white “Women for Trump” sign.
“I feel secure with him as president,” McMenemy said. “I feel like he has a handle on all of the issues.”
Despite the order by Gov. Janet Mills earlier this week calling Mainers to wear masks at all times, only a select few at the protest wore the facial coverings.
This comes as Maine has seen a spike in coronavirus cases, with 138 positive COVID-19 cases announced prior to Saturday’s pro-Trump rally.
Police on site said that they had “no comment” when asked if the order would be enforced during the protest.
“We absolutely voted in person,” Dawn Barrett said. “Without a mask.”
Barrett and her husband, Rodney, made the trip from Porter to the Augusta event.
Together, they said that part of the reason why they were out protesting was because they felt the process of how the absentee ballots were being counted was “fraudulent.”
“We have been doing this a long time,” Rodney Barrett said. “It’s not in vain, we are just standing up for what we believe in.”
President Trump’s team said Saturday that it would be pursuing action with the Supreme Court as soon as Monday to make sure “election laws are fully upheld.” However, the AP reports that it’s “not clear” what legal issues would cause the Supreme Court to consider Trump’s “claims of election fraud.”
At the rally, the members of the public were encouraged to stand in the bed of a truck, parked in the sea of President Trump supporters, to share their thoughts on the election.
“We are not going to let the election be stolen by corruption and Democrats,” one speaker said. “We have Justice Amy Coney Barrett on our side. We will get four more years.”
Distancing herself from the crowd, Kim Talbot stopped into the rally after wanting to see what the commotion was.
She wasn’t sure if the gathering was in response to Gov. Mill’s mask mandate or support for President Trump — either way, she said, she was going to stop in.
“We voted in person,” she said. “We like going and doing the ‘normal’ process and we were skeptical when you add more steps in.”
Talbot believes that President Trump gives a voice to help encourage people to feel like they can come out and express it.
In addition, she resonates with Trump because she wanted a person that was an “outsider” to the world of politics.
“I feel like we are moving in a direction that the people are working for the government instead of the government working for the people,” she said. “I think he was starting to shift that and that’s who we represent as conservatives.”
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