White House press secretary predicts large turnout for pro-Trump rallies in D.C.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany says she expects a large number of President Trump’s supporters to attend pro-Trump events scheduled to take place Saturday in Washington, D.C.

The events include a “Stop the Steal” rally and a so-called “Million MAGA March” 

“I think it’s going to be quite large,” McEnany said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" morning program. "People want to show up and have their voice heard."

"I anticipate quite a large event this Saturday," she said later in the show.

Fox News host Sean Hannity has also been promoting another event, a "March For Trump," scheduled for noon Saturday at Freedom Plaza, not far from the White House.

The events are notably from the fringe, including Infowars publisher Alex Jones and the leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups.

Infowars is organizing a “Stop the Steal” caravan that started in Texas and is expected to reach D.C. this weekend. Jones, a longtime conspiracy theorist, plans to travel from Texas to appear at the event.

Meanwhile, "the founder of Oath Keepers, an anti-government militia, said his members were linking up with Infowars and the organizers of the “Million MAGA March” and plan to provide security at the protests," The Washington Times reported.

"D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said during an event later Thursday that local officials are preparing to make sure the events happen safely," the Times wrote.

"We’re concerned about making sure that we have safe First Amendment demonstrations," she said.

Meanwhile, some members of Joe Biden's campaign team are reportedly worried that Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C., might turn into a huge Trump rally, similar to the raucous "Make America Great Again" events he held throughout the campaign.

In a Daily Beast piece headlined "Biden World Fears Trump Will Bring 'Weird S***' to Their Inauguration," the liberal website says Biden supporters, more worried about COVID-19 than Trump supporters, might not attend – but MAGA supporters just might fill that void.

"Inaugurals always require intricate planning. This one will be a really delicate dance to have that element of accessibility without risk," Steve Kerrigan, who served as the CEO of the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), told the Beast. "I cannot see a President-elect Biden, like Trump, putting narcissism or ego ahead of the safety of people."

"But the questions being confronted by inauguration planners are now twofold. How do you actually keep attendees away? And if wannabe revelers decide not to show up, will you be left with a mass gathering of Trump supporters in their place?" the Beast wrote.

"What do you do if our people don't show up and his do?" one official involved in inaugural planning reportedly said. "They probably will, and the last thing you want is a MAGA rally on the Mall when Joe Biden is sworn in as president ... . I think [Trump] would want to make it as much of a s***show as possible."

While the election is still in flux – few states have certified results, the Electoral College doesn't vote until Dec. 14, and Team Trump has filed more than a dozen lawsuits questioning the voting process – viewing stands are already being erected along Pennsylvania Avenue, including directly in front of the White House. Hundreds of thousands of people often show up, even though it's usually frigid in D.C. on Jan. 20.

CNN said that appears to be on track again. 

"Judging by hotel bookings, the surge in Covid-19 cases won't keep people from attending the presidential inauguration in Washington, DC, in January," CNN wrote this week on Twitter.