‘No Kings’ protests pass in festival atmosphere as an estimated 7 million across US rally against Trump’s ‘authoritarianism’
Nearly 7 million demonstrators in small towns and cities across the country showed up for No Kings protests to rally against Donald Trump’s presidency, according to organizers.
The president declared he was “not a king” on Fox News Friday, but that didn’t stop millions of rally-goers in more than 2,500 locations across the United States from protesting the second Trump administration.
Saturday’s event marked the third mass mobilization since Trump reclaimed the White House — and one of the largest single-day nationwide demonstrations in U.S. history, surpassing the more than 5 million demonstrators who turned up to the first iteration of “No Kings” protests in June, organizers said.
“Today, millions of people showed that we, the people, will not be silenced,” Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.
Protesters at rallies across the country shouted a common refrain:“Hey hey! Ho ho! Donald Trump has got to go!” Inflatable suits, Revolutionary War references, and posters depicting Trump in a crown were ubiquitous.
Organizers called the protests “overwhelmingly peaceful.”
More than 350,000 people across New York City protested on Saturday, organizers said, with New York City Police making zero arrests connected to the protests. Rallies from Charlotte, North Carolina, to San Diego, California also did not see any arrests, according to police.
As millions of Americans marched against him, Trump spent the day in Palm Beach, Florida. Some Democratic officials — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern — made appearances at rallies, while several prominent Republicans urged Americans to stay home and watch college football rather than attend the protests, which they baselessly labeled “Hate America” rallies.
“We call it the ‘Hate America’ rally that’ll happen Saturday,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week. “Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you see pro-Hamas supporters. I bet you see Antifa types. I bet you see the Marxists on full display.”
Taking the stage in Washington, D.C., where more than 200,000 demonstrators turned up, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders immediately took aim at Johnson’s comments.
“Boy, does he have it wrong,” Sanders said. “Millions across thousands of cities across the country showed up not because they hate America, but because they love America.”
He warned that the American experiment is “now in danger,” citing several Trump actions, including sending masked federal agents into cities, the president’s lawsuits against media companies, and Trump’s threats to arrest and imprison his perceived political enemies.
“This moment is not just about one man’s greed, one man’s corruption, or one man’s contempt for the Constitution,” Sanders told the crowd. “This is about a handful of the wealthiest people on earth, who in their insatiable greed, have hijacked our economy and our political system in order to enrich themselves at the expense of working families throughout this country.”
He denounced the billionaires who helped fund Trump’s re-election campaign and attended his inauguration, specifically naming Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
