Republicans mostly silent as millions of Americans protest Trump on No Kings day | Protests (US)
Republican voices remained mostly silent as No Kings rallies and marches took place Saturday against the Trump administration’s policies; many had a street party spirit that went against the “I hate America” portrayal cultivated by senior members of the party.
Instead of provocations, marching bands, huge banners titled “we the people” referencing the US constitution, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, primarily frogs, emerged as signs of resistance.
It was the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and comes as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in what protest organizers warn is a slide toward authoritarianism, a government shutdown that will not only shut down federal programs and services but also test the fundamental balance of power.
In his comments on Friday, Donald Trump took issue with the protest organizers’ portrayal of him as the so-called monarch.
“They say they refer to me as the king. I’m not the king,” Trump said in the Fox News interview.
Later Friday, a Trump campaign social media account mocked the protests by posting a computer-generated video of the president dressed as a monarch, wearing a crown and waving from a balcony.
At an event at the White House on Wednesday, Trump tried to downplay No Kings events. “I hear very few people [are] “They’ll be there in the meantime, but their days are coming and they want to spend their days in the sun,” he said. Trump is spending the weekend at his home in Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
In a move of counterprogramming, J.D. Vance and defense secretary Pete Hegseth were participating in a live-fire amphibious capability demonstration at Camp Pendleton in California to commemorate the 250th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps.
But a plan to fire live cannonballs onto a nearby highway drew objections from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said it forced the California Highway Patrol to close part of a major interstate in Southern California for safety reasons.
“The president is putting his ego ahead of responsibility by ignoring public safety,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “Firing live ammunition on a busy highway is not only wrong, it’s dangerous.”
vance A comment was sent to X He cites a meeting between New York’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Taqwa imam Siraj Wahhaj. was on the list of unindicted collaborators In the case of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.
“I am reliably informed that Democrats oppose any form of political violence, so I look forward to their universal condemnation of Zohran Mamdani for campaigning with an unnamed co-conspirator in a terrorist plot that killed 6 New Yorkers,” Vance wrote.
Meanwhile, Fox News I ran a report He alleged that organizers involved in the global intifada to destroy the state of Israel mobilized to join the No Kings protests in New York under the organizational groups “UAW Labor Party for Palestine” and “NYC Labor Party for Palestine.”
The right-leaning outlet also reported Friday that foundations affiliated with George Soros were financing the No Kings protests through a fund. $3 million grant to organizer Indivisible “to support the donor’s social welfare activities”.
Republican leaders’ relative silence on Saturday contrasted with efforts last week to paint the second No Kings day as a “hate America” day filled with Hamas sympathizers and one reason Democrats are delaying a deal to end the government shutdown, now in its 18th day.
Republican leaders disparaged rally attendees as “communists” and “Marxists” and claimed that centrist Democrats, including Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, who marched in New York, were being held political hostage by the far left.
“I encourage you to watch – we call it the ‘Hate America’ rally – it’s going to happen on Saturday,” said Mike Johnson of Louisiana, speaker of the House of Representatives.
“Let’s see who’s going to join this,” Johnson said, listing groups like “Antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists on full display.” he added.
