Protesting the direction of America under President Donald Trump, people gathered in the nation’s capital and communities across the US for “No Kings ” demonstrations that the president’s Republican Party disparaged as “Hate America” rallies.
With signs such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism”, in many places on Saturday (overnight Sunday AEDT) the events looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the US Constitution’s “We The People” preamble that people could sign, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.
Thousands of protesters filled New York’s Times Square. AP
The turn-out, which multiple media outlets estimated had attracted millions of people, was the third mass mobilisation since Trump’s return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services but is testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organisers warn are a slide toward authoritarianism.
Trump himself was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview that aired early on Friday, before he departed for a $US1 million-per-plate($1.5m) MAGA Incorporated fundraiser at his club. Protests were expected there on Saturday.