Leave it to K-pop fans! The hashtag #MillionMAGAMarch was flooded with photos of pancakes as supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in Washington, D.C., on Saturday (Nov. 14).
The president’s supporters — which included far-right group the Proud Boys — were protesting against President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over the former reality TV personality in the Nov. 3 presidential election, falsely claiming — as Trump has repeatedly stated without any evidence — that the election was rigged. According to the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees — which includes federal employees working in Trump’s administration — this year’s election “was the most secure in American history.”
It appears the effort may have started with TikTok user Shea Depmore, who sent out a message to K-pop fans on the social media platform on Nov. 11. “Proud Boys and MEGA MAD MAGAers are descending upon D.C. this Saturday for the Million MAGA March,” she says in her video, which she also shared on Twitter. “I don’t want these Proud Boys to be proud, so here’s what we’re going to do: We are going to hold a Pancake Beachez — Million MAPA Brunch! That’s right: Make America Pancakes Again. … Fill the hashtag #MillionMAGAMarch with syrupy goodness!”
K-pop stans did not disappoint, taking over the #MillionMAGAMarch and #StopTheSteal hashtags with photos of the scrumptious breakfast food and drowning out posts about the gathering. Even celebrities got in on the effort.
“Bless the brilliant resistance of the Youths…” Bette Midler tweeted Saturday, along with a photo of a delicious-looking stack of pancakes dripping with syrup and covered with banana slices and nuts. “I’m in!”
George Takei chimed in as well, retweeting a photo of savory Chinese scallion pancakes. “#MillionMAGAMarch is…pancakes. And if you’re planning on going, please reconsider. Stay home. Let the incels shout into the wind,” shared the beloved Star Trek actor.
Padma Lakshmi, host of Top Chef, did her part too, sharing a GIF featuring IHOP.
This isn’t the first time K-pop fans and TikTok users have banded together to troll Trump. In June, they claimed to have derailed the president’s Tulsa, Okla., rally by registering for tickets and then being no-shows. Ahead of the June 20 rally, the campaign boasted that it had received a million ticket requests, but only about 6,200 ended up attending, with thousands of empty seats shown at the venue. Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager at the time, later denied that K-pop fans and TikTok users had any impact on the rally’s attendance.
See some of the messages K-pop fans on Twitter shared in response to the Saturday march in D.C.:
#PancakeBoys #ProudBoys #MillionMAGAMarch2020 #MillionsMAGAMarch #MillionMoronMarch #KPOP is bigger than #Trump pic.twitter.com/hqsvWEYkcT
— Herr Yang 楊 老師
Against Racism (@_HerrYang) November 14, 2020
