Despite an onslaught of preemptive rhetoric from Republicans, Saturday’s slate of No Kings protests throughout the country should be viewed as a symbol of this nation’s greatness.
Across the Pacific Northwest, thousands of residents gathered to protest the policies of the Trump administration. “The administration has been eager for justification to send troops, silence dissent and turn our cities into zones of control,” organizer Donna Sinclair told the crowd at Gretchen Fraser Park in east Vancouver, highlighting one of the Trump policies under dispute.
Seattle police estimate that 90,000 people attended that city’s largest rally; in Portland, the count was at least 40,000. Nationally, some 2,700 rallies were scheduled, and unofficial tallies place the number of participants close to 7 million. That is a small fraction of the 77 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election; we will not pretend that the protests represent an overwhelming tidal wave of dissent.
But having millions of Americans leave their homes and take time out of their weekends to protest a presidential administration is a remarkable showing of widespread discord. And it is a powerful reminder of the constitutional right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Republicans in power in Washington, D.C., would be foolish to ignore or dismiss the protests. But that is what they spent weeks doing leading up to the events.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., referred to the protests as “hate America” rallies. Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals.” Numerous elected Republicans invoked the specter of antifa, which has comically become the all-purpose bogeyman used to instill fear in Republican supporters.
Trump, meanwhile, repeatedly has conflated political opposition with rebellion, a stretch of a definition that he has used to justify an expansion of presidential power. So it is unsurprising that on Saturday he responded to the rallies by posting an AI-generated video in which “King Trump” is shown flying a jet and dropping raw sewage on protesters.
A harmless jab at the left? Perhaps. But certainly not a presidential one, and not the sign of a president who feels secure in his ability to lead the American people. Trump repeatedly demonstrates a weakness of character and a shortage of decorum, traits that have helped crystallize his popularity but should concern even his most ardent supporters.
Amid this culture of fear, accusations and finger-pointing related to an ongoing government shutdown, it is worth noting that the protests were remarkably peaceful. ABC News says, “There were no immediate reports of violent incidents or arrests, according to local police departments.”
Contrary to the dismissive rhetoric by Republicans, Saturday’s rallies were deeply pro-American. They reflected the right of people to peacefully protest and to express their opinions about our government. And that represents a victory for all Americans, regardless of their political preferences.
