(AFP) – Rallies from New York to San Francisco under the “No Kings” banner on Saturday will gauge popular anger at President Donald Trump’s barnstorming second term, months after a previous day of action brought millions to the streets.
“The president thinks his rule is absolute. But in America, we don’t have kings and we won’t back down against chaos, corruption, and cruelty,” the “No Kings” movement — which unites some 300 organizations — says on its website. More than 2,700 demonstrations are planned coast to coast, from big cities to small towns, and even near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he will spend the weekend. Organizers say they are expecting millions to attend.
Millions attended rallies on June 14 after Trump ordered the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, a move that led critics to accuse him of acting like a dictator. It was the biggest day of demonstrations since the Republican billionaire returned to the White House in January. Trump in June had promised to use “very big force” if protesters attempted to disrupt the army parade in the US capital. In the months since, he has expanded the deployments of troops to US cities, outraging critics.
An ongoing government shutdown is in its third week, with the Trump administration firing thousands of federal workers and lawmakers showing little sign they are ready to break the impasse. Trump’s response to the latest big rally day has been more muted. “They’re saying they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” he told Fox News show “Sunday Morning Futures.”
But his top surrogates in the Republican Party were in more fighting form, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling the day of protest the “Hate America rally.” “You’re going to bring together the Marxists, the Socialists, the Antifa advocates, the anarchists and the pro-Hamas wing of the far-left Democrat Party,” he told reporters. Republican lawmaker Tom Emmer also used the “Hate America” phrase and referred to participants as the “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party.
Democratic congressman Glenn Ivey rejected the term “hate,” telling AFP on Friday: “I understand why they’re nervous about it and trying to paint it in a bad light. It’s really the strong counter-push to what they’ve been doing — that’s undermining the country, destroying the rule of law and undermining our democracy,” said Ivey, adding that he would attend protests in his Maryland congressional district.
– ‘Country of equals’ –
Beyond New York and San Francisco, protests are scheduled in major cities such as Washington, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and New Orleans, but also in small towns across all 50 states. The “No Kings” movement is even organizing events in Canada. On Thursday, Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said protesters wanted to convey that “we are a country of equals.”
“We are a country of laws that apply to everyone, of due process and of democracy. We will not be silenced,” she told reporters. Leah Greenberg, co-founder of the Indivisible Project, slammed the Trump administration’s efforts to send the National Guard into US cities, crack down on undocumented migrants, and prosecute political opponents.
“It is the classic authoritarian playbook: threaten, smear and lie, scare people into submission,” Greenberg said. “But we will not be intimidated. We will not be cowed.” Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, a known Trump critic, called on Americans to rally.
“We’ve had two and a half centuries of democracy… often challenging, sometimes messy, always essential,” De Niro said in a short video. “Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it away: King Donald the First,” he said. “We’re rising up again this time, nonviolently raising our voices to declare: No kings.”
– Charlotte CAUSIT
© 2024 AFP
