Trump Jr.: Trump supporters in DC ‘should send a message’ to GOP ‘this isn’t’ their party anymore

Donald Trump Jr. told a crowd of several hundred gathered in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that their presence at a rally in support of President Trump should serve as a warning to congressional Republicans that they have lost their power.

“It should be a message to all the Republicans who have not been willing to actually fight, the people who did nothing to stop the steal,” Trump Jr. said at a “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall. “This gathering should send a message to them: This isn’t their Republican Party anymore. This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party.”

Trump Jr. added: “This is the Republican party that will put America first.”

“This isn’t their Republican Party anymore. This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party!” — Donald Trump Jr pic.twitter.com/5V1aMk0AZs

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021

Thousands of people are expected to gather in D.C. throughout the day on Wednesday as a joint session of Congress meets to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

More than 100 House Republicans and roughly a dozen GOP senators have indicated they will contest the election certification process, an action that will trigger hours of debate in both chambers. The effort is ultimately guaranteed to fail given that a challenge would need support from both the House and Senate.

Since Biden was projected as the winner of the election in November, Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill have claimed without evidence that widespread voter fraud led to an unfair election and launched a series of legal challenges across the country that hit dead ends.

Several lawsuits from the Trump campaign contesting the result in key battleground states have been dismissed and election results were certified in every state before being sent to Congress for final approval this week.

Trump has also pressured Vice President Pence to “do the right thing” and “come through” for him when he presides over the certification process in Congress on Wednesday, though the vice president lacks authority to unilaterally block the certification.

Republicans in the Senate were also dealt a blow overnight Tuesday when the Rev. Raphael Warnock defeated Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of Georgia’s runoff elections, putting Democrats one seat closer to winning the majority in the upper chamber. A second race between Republican David Purdue and challenger Jon Ossoff was too close to call as of Wednesday morning, though Ossoff was leading.

Trump campaigned earlier in the week for Loeffler and Perdue. Loeffler said late Monday that she supports senators who will contest Biden’s win.