Noting the “bitter cold” temperatures of 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the vice president said, “here you are outside in an especially frigid January, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a joyful crowd out here, particularly during this time of year.”

Vance addressed what called the need for more births in the United States.

“We need a culture that celebrates life at all stages, one that recognizes and truly believes that the benchmark of national success is not our GDP number or our stock market, but whether people feel that they can raise thriving and healthy families in our country,” he said.

Trump did not attend in person but sent a video message while he was in North Carolina, criticizing the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling as an “unconstitutional decision” that produced “50 years of division and anger.”

He also repeated a false claim that Democrats are pushing “for a federal right to unlimited abortion-on-demand, up to the moment of birth and even after birth.”

His remarks came a day after he pardoned 23 anti-abortion activists convicted of invading and blockading a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic in 2020.

Neither Trump nor Vance announced any specific proposals to roll back abortion access on Friday, however, disappointing some in the crowd who hope Trump won’t repeat his waffling on the issue during last year’s presidential run.

“It was disappointing. It should have already happened. It needs to happen today,” anti-abortion group leader Lila Rose told Politico. “There’s a ton more that can be done easily by executive order — that was done in past administrations — and that’s a no brainer.”

Also addressing the March for Life was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who touted his state’s defeat of a pro-abortion ballot initiative in November.

“The sanctity of life does not depend on poll results, it doesn’t depend on which way the wind is blowing, it’s an enduring truth and it represents the foundation of our society,” DeSantis said.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., Sen. John Thune, R-N.D., also addressed the attendees, who marched from the Mall to the Capitol after the remarks were delivered.

Marching along with them were dozens of members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group that carried U.S. flags, Christian symbols and signs proclaiming support for “strong families.”

Their presence drew criticism from the Jewish Anti-Defamation League.

“Today, approximately 100 members of the white supremacist Patriot Front are marching at the March for Life anti-abortion rally in D.C. Members are passing out fliers to attendees at the event and holding a large banner the reads, ‘Strong Families Make Strong Nations,'” the group said. “Patriot Front makes regular appearances at anti-abortion events across the United States.”

Members of the group “believe that their ancestors conquered America and bestowed it to them, and no one else,” the ADL said, adding that since 2019, “Patriot Front has been responsible for the vast majority of white supremacist propaganda distributed in the United States, using fliers, posters, stickers, banners and the internet to spread their hateful ideology.”