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Trump saw people celebrating his defeat from motorcade as he rode back to White House from golf course

Many gave Mr Trump the finger as he passed by

Oliver O'Connell
New York
Sunday 08 November 2020 21:18 EST
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Trump saw people celebrating his defeat from motorcade

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When the 2020 presidential election was called for Joe Biden on Saturday, Donald Trump was at his golf course in Virginia.

Located some 26 miles from the White House, in the suburb of Stirling, it was an interesting journey back to the executive mansion for the president — and there was no way a motorcade could shield him from public feeling regarding the election result.

Supporters of president-elect Biden lined the streets and highways between the golf course and downtown Washington, DC, waving flags and signs and making their distaste for the president evident.

Many gave the finger to Mr Trump as the motorcade passed.

Regular readers of The Independent’s live blog of the Trump administration will know that when he visits his golf club at weekends people regularly show up to protest or offer their support to the president.

A small group of supporters was stationed outside the club, but they were far outnumbered by people gleefully celebrating Biden’s victory.

Read more: Follow the 2020 US election results live

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In addition to Biden campaign signs and flags, homemade placards read: “Good riddance”, and “You lose and we all win”.

Large crowds had also formed outside the White House at Black Lives Matter Plaza, making the celebrations unmissable for the president.

On arrival at the executive mansion, the president was seen holding his phone, perhaps drafting the all-caps tweet that he fired out not long after returning home.

"THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!"

As with his other claims of voter fraud, the tweet was flagged as “disputed” by Twitter.

On Sunday, Mr Trump returned to the golf course and a larger crowd of supporters had formed outside.

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