Critics plan largest ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump nationwide
WASHINGTON—Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people will gather Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the United Sates for “No Kings” demonstrations—what the Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.
This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and it is expected to be the largest. It comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn is a slide toward American authoritarianism—an oft repeated Democratic Party criticism of Trump.
Trump himself is away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1-million-per-plate Maga Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.
Unified opposition
While the earlier protests this year—against Elon Musk’s cuts in spring, then to counter Trump’s military parade in June—drew crowds, organizers say this one is building a more unified opposition party movement. Top Democrats, such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, are joining in what organizers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s purported clampdown on free speech to its military-style raids to weed out illegal migrants, especially those with criminal records.
“There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people power,” said Ezra Levin, a cofounder of Indivisible, among the key organizers.
As Republicans and the White House dismiss the protests as a rally of radicals, Levin said their own sign-up numbers are growing. More than 2,600 rallies are planned in cities large and small, organized by hundreds of coalition partners. They said rallies are being planned within a one-hour drive for most Americans.
Republicans have portrayed participants in Saturday’s rallies as far outside the mainstream of American politics, and a main reason for the prolonged government shutdown, now in its 18th day.
From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders described the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists.”
They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut down to appease those liberal forces.
“I encourage you to watch—we call it the Hate America rally—that will happen Saturday,” said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
‘Antifa types’
“Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said listing off groups, including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”
Democrats have refused to vote on legislation that would reopen government as they demand funding for health care that Republicans say will benefit illegals at the cost of American taxpayers. Republicans add that they are willing to discuss the issue later, only after government reopens.
But for many Democrats, the government closure is also a way to stand up to Trump, and try to push the presidency back to its place in the US system as a co-equal branch of the government.
In a Facebook post, Sanders of Vermont, himself a former presidential contender, said, “It’s a love America rally.”
“It’s rally of millions of people all over this country who believe in our Constitution, who believe in American freedom and,” he said, pointing at the GOP leadership, “are not going to let you and Donald Trump turn this country into an authoritarian society.”
The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent, unsure about how best to respond to Trump’s return to the White House. Schumer in particular was berated by his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to sail through the Senate without using it to challenge Trump.
