Echoing the president's baseless claims of voter fraud, Trump supporters are taking to the streets to protest election results

GettyImages 1284476001 — After major media outlets have called the election for Joe Biden, supporters of President Donald Trump protest in Nevada on Saturday.

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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 presidential election by winning 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania, Insider, and Decision Desk HQ projected Friday.
President Donald Trump has not conceded and continues to make baseless claims of voter fraud.
Some supporters of Trump continue to protest the results of the election, echoing the president’s baseless claims of voter fraud.
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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 presidential election, but supporters of President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, like the president himself, are contesting the results.

President-elect Biden secured 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania and thus surpassed the 270 electoral college votes needed to win, Insider and Decision Desk HQ projected Friday. On Saturday morning, President-elect Biden also became the projected winner in Nevada putting him at 279 electoral votes, per Decision Desk HQ, and major medial outlets in the nation all called the race for Biden.

Leaders around the world sent their congratulations to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris. US politicians, including most recently former President George W. Bush, congratulated Biden and Harris on their victory.

Even so, Trump has not conceded and continues to make baseless claims of voter fraud while continuing a number of legal challenges contesting presidential election results in key battleground states. President Trump’s re-election campaign also continues to post calls to “help stop” voter fraud, which remains without evidence.

Throughout the election week, supporters of Trump clashed with people celebrating Biden’s lead. When Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania, celebrating crowds and Trump supporters protesting the election results both took to the streets, Business Insider’s Oma Seddiq previously reported.

On Friday, The Washington Post first reported that text messages calling for recipients to congregate in Philadelphia to rally in support of baseless claims that liberals were “trying to steal this election” were sent from phone numbers leased by OpnSesame, a company run by Trump campaign digital director Gary Coby.

33-year-old Aaron Grando of Philadelphia told Business Insider that he received this same text message on Thursday at around 2:30 p.m. and “was a little concerned” because he knew a crowd was gathering at the Philadelphia convention center, which was close to the address listed in the text message.

Campaign text message — A screenshot of the text message received by Aaron Grando.

Aaron Grando

“I definitely have not signed up for anything from a right-leaning source, I do wonder where they got my number,” he added.

The Trump campaign and Coby did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. The Associated Press reported a top Trump campaign official said the campaign did not send the message.

Even as major media outlets have called the election for Biden, some supporters of Trump are following suit of the president and protesting the results of the election. On Saturday, celebrations for the victory of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris filled the streets. Meanwhile, many supporters of Trump have congregated to State Capitols to protest the election results, according to videos from journalists of local media outlets.

—Kevin Batiste (@KBatisteJr) November 7, 2020

Many of these supporters have organized “Stop the steal” rallies, which were held across the country. Local outlets media, including Mississsippi’s WJTV, Kansas City’s KCTV5 News, and CBS Pittsburgh, reported these demonstrations organized by Trump supporters.