President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to tweet a message urging unity among the American people as the nation continued to show signs of division over the results of a contentious and ugly election.
"This will prove to be a great time in the lives of ALL Americans. We will unite and we will win, win, win!" Trump tweeted.
The president-elect's tweet came as thousands took to city streets for the fourth day after election night to protest its results, with many chanting slogans like "not my president" and "no Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA."
Demonstrators have crowded in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan, blocked highways and roads across the country, and swarmed streets and college campuses in protests that have become more heated. During a march in Portland, Oregon, Friday night, a demonstrator was shot and injured, police said. The night before, police deemed an anti-Trump protest in Portland was a riot because of increasingly dangerous behavior.
Trump's most recent tweet urging unity stood in contrast to his initial response to the protests. Late Thursday night, he took to the social-media outlet to slam protesters and the media.
"Just had a very open and successful presidential election," he wrote on Twitter. "Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"
When the tweet drew sharp criticism, Trump quickly changed his tone, tweeting: "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!"
But activists geared up for another round of demonstrations throughout the weekend. A number of groups in major cities like New York and Chicago have planned protests throughout Saturday.
Ashley Lynne Nagel, a Bernie Sanders supporter who voted for Hillary Clinton and who joined a demonstration in Denver on Thursday, said of her protesting: "It's not that we're sore losers. It's that we are genuinely upset, angry, terrified that a platform based off of racism, xenophobia and homophobia has become so powerful and now has complete control of our representation."
