WASHINGTON (AP) – Protesting country’s instructions below President Donald TrumpPeople gathered in the capital and communities across the United States on Saturday. “There is no king” Demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling them. “I hate America” rally.
this is, Third mass mobilization It is expected to be the largest since President Trump returned to the White House. it is, government shutdown It didn’t just shut down the federal government. programs and services; But the core balance of power is being tested as aggressive management teams confront each other. parliament and courts The kind of approach organizers warn of is a slide toward American authoritarianism.
Trump himself has left Washington and is at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
“I say they call me a king. I’m not a king,” President Trump said in an interview on Fox News that aired early Friday morning before departing for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. Protests are expected closer to Saturday.
During protests earlier this year, Opposed to Elon Musk’s spring cuts, then counter President Trump’s Military Parade Crowds gathered in June, and organizers said the rally was building a more unified opposition movement. top of the Democratic Party, etc. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and independent senator bernie sanders They are participating in activities that organizers see as an antidote to President Trump’s actions, from government suppression of free speech to military raids on immigrants.
“There is no greater threat to authoritarian regimes than patriotic people power,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the main organizers.
While Republicans and the White House have dismissed the protests as radical rallies, Levin said the number of signatures among Republicans themselves is increasing. More than 2,600 rallies are planned, hosted by hundreds of coalition partners, in cities large and small. They say rallies are planned within an hour’s drive for most Americans.
That’s largely because Republicans are trying to portray participants at Saturday’s rally as far outside the mainstream of American politics. Extended government shutdowncurrently on day 18.
From the White House to the Capitol republican leaders He belittled the rally participants, calling them “communists” and “Marxists.”
They argue that Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far left and want to keep the government shut down to appease liberals.
“Please come and see what we call the Hate America Rally on Saturday,” he said. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-ra.
“Let’s see who’s going to join us for that,” Johnson said, citing groups including “Antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists across the board.”
Democrats are refusing to vote on a bill to reopen the government as they demand more health care funding. Republicans have said they will discuss the issue once the government reopens.
But for many Democrats, the government shutdown is also a way to stand up to Trump and restore the presidency to its place within the American system as an equal branch of government.
“This is a rally that loves America,” Sanders, a former presidential candidate himself, said in a Facebook post.
“This is a coming together of millions of people across this country who believe in our Constitution and believe in American freedom,” he said, pointing to Republican leadership. “You and Donald Trump are not going to turn this country into an authoritarian society.”
The situation could be an improvement from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and disappointed, unsure of how best to respond to President Trump’s return to the White House. Mr. Schumer, in particular, came under fire from his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to pass the Senate without being used to challenge Mr. Trump.
In April, the national march against Trump and Elon Musk had 1,300 registration locations. In June, 2,100 locations were registered for the first “No Kings” day. More than 2,600 locations will be registered for Saturday’s march, Levin said.
“What we’re seeing from the Democratic Party is some kind of backbone,” Levin said. “The worst thing Democrats can do right now is surrender.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he didn’t know if he would join Saturday’s rally attendees, but he disagreed with how Republicans characterized the rally.
“What’s abhorrent is what happened on January 6th,” he said, referring to the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol when Trump’s supporters stormed the building to protest Joe Biden’s election victory. “What you’re going to see this weekend is what patriotism looks like. People coming together to voice their opposition to the extremism that Donald Trump is unleashing on the American people.”
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Riddle reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed.
