Donald Trump is holding a “victory rally” in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19, the day before his inauguration. The incoming president and convicted felon will host a celebratory pat-on-the-back party at Capitol One Arena, which fits 20,000 people.
Trump and his transition team don’t seem to be fazed by the last time they held a rally ahead of inauguration day in 2020—and the disastrous results.
While the tables have turned in Trump’s favor this time and his claims of election fraud have all but disappeared, tensions surrounding the 2024 election have remained high even as the fallout from the 2020 election continues.
As many might recall, Trump’s “Save America” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, resulted in seven deaths and many terrified people on Capitol Hill barricading themselves out of fear for their lives. Despite the violence being being widely reported and recorded, Trump called it “a day of love”—then lied on the campaign trail by claiming that no one died in the protest led by crazed Trump supporters.
“I think the people of January 6 were treated very unfairly,” Trump said in a September press conference. Comparing the insurrection to a vague idea of “other things that took place in this country,” Trump incorrectly claimed “nobody was killed.”
As of November, federal judges were still doling out prison sentences for attendees. However, Trump has already hinted that his insurrectionist supporters will be pardoned after he takes the oath of office once again. And despite being charged with felonies or misdemeanors and being prohibited from traveling to our nation’s capital, some rallygoers are trying to get special permission to celebrate their felon-elect at his next swearing-in.
Daily Kos reached out to Trump’s transition team for comment on planned security measures for the upcoming rally, but did not immediately hear back. Other details regarding the event are unclear, including any scheduled speakers or entertainment.
Questions are also swirling around how the Trump team is paying for this massive event. More specifically, it’s unknown if he’s pulling dollars from his controversial inaugural fund to book the stadium.
While Daily Kos has reported on the tech billionaires lining up to fork over seven figures in order to curry his favor, Trump conveniently didn’t sign a customary agreement with the outgoing Biden administration offering $7.2 million in federal funds for his transition effort—as long as he disclosed the names of his donors and agreed to donation caps.
In other words, it appears that Trump can take as much money as he’d like—and doesn’t have to tell anyone who it came from or how much they gave him.
