MAGA World Was Very Quiet on President Joe Biden’s Inauguration
January 20, 2021Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here.
Much like its leader, MAGA-world was pretty quiet the day its nemesis Joe Biden was sworn into the presidency. In some states, only a single Trump supporter appeared to show up to the capital in protest.
After a pro-Trump mob attempted to “take back” their country by storming the Capitol on January 6, Americans and local law enforcement braced for additional chaos in Washington, D.C., and at state capitals across the country on Inauguration Day. But in most places, the transition of power went over without a hitch.
In Albany, New York, just one man, Mark Leggiero, stood outside the New York State Capitol building with a flag featuring Trump standing in front of an explosion.
Leggiero told The Daily Gazette that the lack of support for the former president disheartened him.
“I was coming out to hopefully join a bunch of peaceful protestors and support the cause,” Leggiero told the local outlet in a video interview. “Being that I’m the only one out here, I find it to be a lost cause.”
“I still hold faith,” he continued. “I’m still a believer and I’m going to back Mr. Trump 100 percent. He’s always going to be my president.”
In Sacramento, a lone, unidentified man stood outside a metal fence surrounding the California State Capitol building wearing a MAGA hat as state police patrolled the area early Wednesday morning.
Later on in the day, after Biden had already taken the oath of office, protestors dressed in black marched past the capitol building in Sacramento and denounced both Trump and President Biden.
In Montana, a photographer for the Helena Independent Record snapped a single man with a “Biden Won, Trump Lost, Let’s Move On” sign standing outside of the legislative building in Helena with no opposition in sight. The scene was a far cry from the nearly 100 Trump supporters who showed up there on January 6.
In other states, the turnout was larger—but nothing like the rallies Trump loved to brag about.
In Florida, a handful of people showed up in Tallahassee in favor of Trump according to FOX 35.
In Atlanta, a reporter for the Tennessee Leaf-Chronicle spoke to three Trump supporters who stood in the state capital with picket signs that read “I love my country, I hate my government.”
“I’m ashamed of my government,” one of the women says during a brief exchange with the reporter shared on Twitter.
In Maine, a small group of protestors stood outside the statehouse, according to local CBS-affiliate WGME.
The FBI has spent the last two weeks identifying and arresting dozens of people who broke into the Capitol in D.C. as legislators tried to certify Biden’s victory on January 6. Since then, 15,000 members of the National Guard were deployed to the city to ensure a smooth transition of power. Infighting among right-wing extremists also played a part in the relative calm, Motherboard reported.
Despite Trump and his supporters’ best efforts to spread the dangerous lie that the election was stolen, Biden was officially sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday afternoon. In his inaugural speech, he outlined plans for a less-divided government.
“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural vs. urban, conservative vs. liberal,” Biden said Wednesday, addressing the divisive Trump years. “We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.”