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The TOI correspondent from Washington: Millions of Americans gathered at more than 2500 demonstrations across a deeply polarized United States in what protestors characterised as a “No Kings” movement and what the ruling MAGA dispensation called “Hate America rallies.” The mass mobilisation, the second one since President Donald Trump took office in January, echoed the anti-monarchist spirit of the American Revolution as protestors gathered in parks and street corners chanting slogans against what they believe has turned into an unfettered imperial presidency. The protests reject the idea of a supreme, unchecked ruler that they believe Trump had become and oppose what they see as the President acting like a monarch who defies constitutional limits, the courts, and democratic norms. The dissidents were also protesting several specific policies and actions of the Trump administration, including the deployment of federal forces/National Guard troops into US cities, viewed as an overreach of federal power and militarization of communities; sweeping immigration enforcement raids and policies, leading to deportations and alleged injustices; and the government shutdown and its impact on the federal workforce and essential services. Typical signs at the protests included “No Faux-King Way!” “Fight Truth Decay” and “I could shit a better president.” Many immigrants, even citizens, stayed away fearing adverse scrutiny.
President Trump has rejected the charge that he is acting like a monarch, remarking on one occasion, “I don’t feel like a king, I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.” He frames the presidency as a difficult job constrained by a “deep state, ” a Democrats-dominated bureaucracy, and a “radical left opposition” that have combined to diminish mostly-white and caucasian American exceptionalism.Leading up to the protests, Trump surrogates sought to delegitimize them, calling them unpatriotic “hate America rallies” by “subversive” “radical left” demonstrators they describe as “antifa.” In a Fox News interview, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt suggested the rallies were events staged and backed by the Democratic Party, and alleged its “main constituency is made up of “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.” Visually, the rallies were anything but that, featuring mainly white native-born Americans. Fearing that the protests would be infiltrated by right-wing provocateurs, rally organizers in many places asked demonstrators to maintain peace and to personalize their concerns about domestic issues like health care and government shutdown, while keeping out symbols like Palestinian flags, support for Ukraine etc, and not carrying anything weapons.Indeed, the best weapons were words in the form of biting, cutting slogans. “Not a paid protestor. I hate Trump for free,” read one poster, alluding to the MAGA charge that the demonstrations were funded by anti-America forces. “The only tyrant I accept is my child!” read another held by a woman pushing an infant in a stroller.A man in a chicken suit held up a poster that simply read: CLUCK TRUMP !
