An estimated 7 million people took part in No Kings rallies Saturday to protest President Trump’s embrace of authoritarianism. Organizers say protests were held in about 2,600 sites across all 50 states in what was one of the largest days of protest in U.S. history, surpassing the first No Kings day of action in June. In Chicago, the protest stretched for two miles as about 250,000 took to the streets. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson addressed the crowd and called for a general strike. An estimated 200,000 rallied in Washington, D.C. Senator Bernie Sanders addressed the crowd.
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “This moment is not just about one man’s greed, one man’s corruption or one man’s contempt for the Constitution. This is about a handful of the wealthiest people on Earth who, in their insatiable greed, have hijacked our economy and our political system in order to enrich themselves at the expense of working families throughout this country.”
At a No Kings rally in Atlanta, speakers included former gubernatorial candidate and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.
Stacey Abrams: “And yet, we are living in a moment where ethnofascists are in charge of the government, when Christian nationalists are making economic policy, when we have a secret police telling us who we are. Their destination is division. Their destination is destruction. And their destination is denied. We will not go back, and we will not let them turn us around.”
President Trump responded to the No Kings protests by posting an AI-generated video that showed him wearing a crown while flying a jet labeled “King Trump.” In the video, Trump is seen dumping what looks like liquid feces on the heads of protesters.
Trump has also repeated his threat to investigate billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who Trump claimed had helped fund the No Kings protest, which attracted massive crowds despite attempts by House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans to label the protest as a “hate America” rally.