Democracy Shines on No Kings Day

Almost seven million Americans marched, rallied, and sang patriotic songs on Saturday to protest the Trump regime’s grasp for power. The common refrain heard across the 2700 rallies around the country: “This is what democracy looks like.” Despite the attacks on the rule of law and the dismantling of federal agencies by Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues, Americans demonstrated that democracy’s flame still burns bright in the United States.

Dubbed “No Kings Day” by organizers, the rallygoers showed up to defend their constitutional rights and express their anger at Republican cuts to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), ICE raids on immigrants, and subversion of fair elections and due process.

While much of their anger was directed at Trump, the president who has questioned his obligations to uphold the Constitution, protesters also held the Republicans who currently occupy Congress and key positions in the Trump administration responsible for sabotaging our democratic institutions and processes. Protesters included Democrats and Independents as well as Republican voters.

Several hundred events were held in states that voted for Trump in the last election, including Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. More than 75% of Americans who obtain their health insurance through the ACA live in these states. Their courage in demonstrating in hostile territory might just be an act of desperation.

No Kings, occurring amid the government shutdown and congressional Republicans’ unwillingness to negotiate with their Democratic colleagues, has, at least for the moment, shifted the narrative away from the lies and distortions of the Republican leadership. GOP efforts to brand the protest as a “hate America” day and the protesters not as patriotic Americans but as mercenaries paid by George Soros largely fell flat. Media outlets refuted rather than spread those talking points. Even Fox News Digital helped carry the protesters’ message of distress and dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, including quotes and video interviews from some of the 100,000+ protesters who converged in New York City.

One protester told Fox reporters he feared Trump was turning the country into a “sh**hole country”, a term Trump once used to describe Haiti, El Salvador, and countries in Africa. Another protester was upset at the loss of her family’s health insurance and at the bombing of Venezuelan boats, cuts to food support for needy families, and ICE’s terror campaign against immigrants and US citizens.

Contrary to the fears of violence stirred up by the Republican noise machine in the lead up to Saturday’s events, the rallies were peaceful. A fact that has been widely reported.

As Republican policies of disruption and intimidation are felt more broadly among the population, the painful reality of those policies is generating a widespread backlash. Reality has, for the moment, penetrated the Republicans’ news distortion field.