New York Post, Sunday, November 15, 2020
nypost.com
ELECTION 2020
President Trump’s former
chief of staff is joining the
chorus of Washington in-
siders demanding the start
of a Biden administration
transition — ever so gently.
“I know Mr. Trump better
than most people do,” re-
tired four-star Marine
Corps Gen. John Kelly told
Politico. “I know that he’ll
never accept defeat and, in
fact, he doesn’t have to ac-
cept defeat here. He just has
to do what’s best for the
country and in the coun-
try’s interest.”
The federal General Ser-
vices Administration has
not yet greenlighted a start
to presumptive President-
elect Joe Biden’s White
House transition —
prompting threats of a law-
suit and protests from some
congressional Republicans.
Kelly served as Trump’s
top aide from July 2017 to
January 2019 and as secre-
tary of homeland security
in the early months of the
administration.
“The transition, in the na-
tional security realm in par-
ticular and the homeland
security realm, is just so im-
portant that every day that
the transition is delayed re-
ally kind of handicaps” the
incoming administration,
Kelly said. “It’s not a pro-
cess where you go from
zero to 1,000 miles per
hour.”
“Mr. Trump doesn’t have
to concede if he doesn’t
want to, I guess, until the
full election process is com-
plete,” he added. “But
there’s nothing wrong with
starting the transition.”
The Trump campaign is
pursuing multiple lawsuits
to demand recounts and au-
dits of the vote in several
states — and is operating
“under the assumption that
there will be a second
Trump term,” White House
trade adviser Peter Navarro
said Friday.Mary Kay LingeEx-aide
Kelly:
Hand off
to Biden
By MARY KAY LINGEPresident Trump made a
drive-by appearance as his sup-
porters gathered in Washington,
DC, on Saturday for a massive re-
count rally — but violence stoked
by counterprotesters flared as
night fell.
Some 20 people were arrested
and one rally-goer was left with
critical injuries from a stabbing
that happened during a fight be-
tween two large groups at 10th
Street and New York Avenue NW
at around 8:30 p.m., NBC 4 in
Washington reported, citing a
spokesperson for DC Fire and EMS.
“Radical Left ANTIFA SCUM
was easily rebuffed today by the
big D.C. MAGA Rally crowd, only
to return at night, after 99% of the
crowd had left, to assault elderly
people and families,” Trump com-
plained in a tweet Saturday night.
Sporadic confrontations broke
out at the edge of the crowd of
thousands of Trump fans who
flocked to the heart of the nation’s
capital to boost the president’s
election-recount efforts and to
back his refusal to concede.
Black-clad members of the left-
ist group Refuse Fascism tried to
shove their way into the mass of
Trump supporters, then got into a
shouting match with them as
speeches got underway.
Punches were exchanged —
with one Trump backer swinging
a megaphone — as ralliers pushed
the counterprotesters away from
their group and toward police offi-cers trying to keep order.
Marchers later headed to a sec-
ond rally site outside the Supreme
Court, where a contingent of
Antifa protesters waited behind a
large hot-pink banner that read,
“Punch MAGA in the Face.”
“We won!” the left-wing activ-
ists chanted.
But they were greatly outnum-
bered by the Trump supporters,
who scolded them as “white-privi-
lege people over there talking all
that trash” and struck up a derisive
chant of “Check your privilege!”
The anarchists stood behind a
line of police in riot gear, who
formed a human shield to keep the
groups apart. There were no ar-
rests, according to news outlets.
Tensions were at their worst
after night fell, including at a res-
taurant two blocks from the White
House.
Three Trump supporters wereeating outside when someone set
off fireworks in their direction,
NBC 4 reporter Shomari Stone
tweeted.
The blasts sent diners ducking
and running out of harm’s way.
One video showed two Trump
supporters being trailed by a
group of counterprotesters who
shouted “Get the f--k out of here!”
Another video showed a group
pummeling a man and beating
him over the head with a flagpole.
Trump appeared two hours before
the crowd swelled at Freedom Plaza,
two blocks from the White House, at
the rally’s noon start time.
The motorcade looped around a
crowd of hundreds of early birds —
some lofting signs reading “Thou
shalt not steal” — who whooped
and chanted “Four more years!” as
the vehicles circled.
The National Park Service is-
sued a permit Friday allowing upto 10,000 people at the rally orga-
nized under the banners “Million
MAGA March” and “Stop the
Steal,” among others. The plaza
can hold about 13,000 people and
appeared to be filled to capacity.
Trump tweeted his appreciation.
“Hundreds of thousands of people
showing their support in D.C.,” he
posted over an aerial shot of the
crowd. “They will not stand for a
Rigged and Corrupt Election!”
Several speakers took the stage,
including Rep.-elect Marjorie
Taylor Greene of Georgia; con-
servative commentator Paris
Dennard; and Minnesota-based
pillow manufacturer Mike Lin-
dell, one of Trump’s most ardent
backers.
As the Trump fans left the rally
site in twos and threes, a group of
five self-identified Black Lives
Matter activists shouted, “Bye,
losers,” through a megaphone.Pro- and anti-Trumpers in bloodshed
loyal cadre:
Thousands of
Trump backers
gather in Wash-
ington, DC, Sat-
urday, where
blood was
spilled when
fights broke out
between sup-
porters and de-
tractors of the
president.Antifa attacks
recount rally
James Keivom