At suburban Fort Worth intersection, Trump supporters gather to share election unease
About 75 people stood on Friday evening at the edge of a Southlake intersection near a shopping center and waved flags and cheered in support of President Donald Trump.
The gathering, organized via social media by a pair of women who call themselves the Patriot Sisters, unfolded as people in passing vehicles honked horns in support. A woman strummed a guitar. A man holding a cellphone several feet in front of him on a selfie stick broadcast the scene, offering commentary as he walked.
There were occasional chants of “stop the steal,” a reference to the assertion that Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, had won his lead in the race improperly. “Four more years,” others repeated at the demonstration at Southlake Town Square.
The protest took place three days after Election Day. Trump had not conceded. Biden’s advisors had suggested that he was near a win. The Associated Press projected Biden as the winner on Saturday after calling Pennsylvania in his favor.
The validity of election was at the center of the rally participants’ arguments.
Joe Kilfeather, 57, of Arlington, held a Trump flag that he said he bought at a store in Watauga that sells Trump-themed merchandise. He said he could accept a Trump loss if the election had not involved a system of mailed ballots that Kilfeather alleged was fraud-filled.
The election’s resolution will likely be determined by the outcome of legal challenges, Kilfeather said, and Trump’s appetite to hold on.
The election’s proper handling is a matter that extends beyond the president, he said.
“Donald Trump is doing this for future presidents,” Kilfeather said.
Maria Negrete, 40, of Keller, said she had been reading and watching online accounts of election tampering.
She said she had read of poll workers who filled out ballots.
“This isn’t acceptable,” Negrete said. “The American people won’t stand for it.”
A second election may be the only way to be certain the process is fair, she said.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 9:52 PM.
