(Washington) Washington Saturday afternoon was like an estuary where two opposing currents mingle. The “People’s March” demonstrators were walking away from the Lincoln Monument with their wet signs. Supporters of 47e president, they arrived en masse in hotels and bars.
Published at 6:00 a.m.
Lauren Fling came from Colorado because she is “concerned about the destruction of democracy by Trump and his Neanderthal billionaires.”
PHOTO YVES BOISVERT, THE PRESS
Group of Washington protesters
Across the street, a grandmother from Texas was walking out of an “inauguration souvenir” store with her 14-year-old grandson.
PHOTO YVES BOISVERT, THE PRESS
A grandmother and her grandson, who came from Texas for Trump’s swearing-in
“I decided to give him this gift, for history, so that he can witness democracy in action and the transfer of power,” she said with pride. I’m so happy President Trump is elected. »
Everyone here loves democracy very much and believes it is threatened by the “other party”.
Doreen Livoti, venue aussi du Colorado pour protester, ne comprend pas encore ce qui s’est passé le 5 novembre. « Pour moi, c’est la désinformation. Tout est ravalé au même niveau. Vous dites aux gens : Trump a été déclaré coupable de crimes, et ils vous disent : “Kamala a un rire bizarre.” »
PHOTO YVES BOISVERT, LA PRESSE
Lauren Fling et Doreen Livoti sont venues du Colorado pour manifester.
Malgré la présence de milliers de manifestants dans les rues, ce qui domine est une impression de résignation.
Elles étaient des centaines de milliers au même endroit, en 2017, lors de la « Marche des femmes » précédant la prestation de serment de Donald Trump. À côté de ça, la marche de cette année est une petite réunion. Comme si la réélection de Trump avait assommé l’opposition.
« Il y a un gros nuage sombre au-dessus du pays, il faut montrer notre force », dit tout de même Liz Peteya, une enseignante de 31 ans descendue de New York. Elle est déçue que 90 millions d’Américains n’aient tout simplement pas voté à l’élection présidentielle (150 millions ont voté).
PHOTO YVES BOISVERT, LA PRESSE
Liz Peteya et Lyla Cotton sont parties de New York pour participer à la marche.
-« Les gens qui ont envahi le Capitole le 6 janvier [2021] were encouraged by Trump, so now imagine how galvanized they are. »
“He was legitimately elected, but I’m here to remind you that half the country didn’t vote for what he’s proposing,” said Julia Holmans, 30, of Washington. The crowd doesn’t compare to the Women’s March, but maybe the people are worn out. That’s what he does: he ends up wearing down people’s will. You have to keep your foot on the accelerator. »
PHOTO YVES BOISVERT, THE PRESS
The march attracted several thousand protesters, but nothing like the 2017 Women’s March.
“I try to tell myself that in history, there are always undertows,” says Jessica Evans, 30 years old. She works to adapt infrastructure to climate change and admits to being a little discouraged by what is looming, that is to say the massive disinvestment for these projects and the collection of scientific data.
Otherwise, the city is full of red caps, banners are installed on hotels and barriers are erected all along Pennsylvania Avenue, between the White House and the Capitol, for the parade.
The only problem for the MAGA party is that 7 to 15 centimeters of snow are forecast for Sunday, what we call a storm here. As the snow will be immediately followed by an exceptional cold snap, which is described as “polar” (around -10°C), the situation risks being complicated in the capital.
PHOTO PATRICK T. FALLON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Supporters of Donald Trump take photos on the sidelines of the “People’s March” organized in Washington on Saturday
The president surely does not want to suffer the same fate as the ninth president. William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia in 1841, a month after the inauguration ceremony where he delivered an interminable speech in the rain and cold. It was the shortest presidency in history.
Taking refuge indoors also has its perils, as evidenced by the “National Hotel disease” affair in 1857. That year James Buchanan, the anti-abolitionist who preceded Lincoln and was considered the one of the worst presidents in history.
PHOTO J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The inauguration ceremony was moved inside the Capitol due to the freezing temperatures expected Monday.
Following a banquet preceding the inauguration, hundreds of patrons, including the president-elect, contracted a form of gastroenteritis. Buchanan recovered, but 30 people, including politicians, died. Conspiracy theories have been rife, but historians favor the theory that dysentery was caused by the unsanitary sewage system.
Despite the arrival of all his supporters, Donald Trump is not the most popular man in this city, undoubtedly the most Democratic in the country. He was spending Saturday evening across the frozen Potomac at his golf club in Virginia.
In the absence of outdoor ceremonies, a MAGA rally takes place this Sunday at Capital One Arena, the amphitheater of the Capitals and the Wizards, then a second is planned for Monday, immediately after the swearing-in.
After which he will drop his bags again at 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue, becoming the only president with Grover Cleveland (22e et 24e president, from 1885 to 1889, then from 1893 to 1897) to return to the White House four years after leaving it.
