CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Thousands of people gathered for “No Kings” rallies along the streets of Summerville and North Charleston Saturday to voice their discontent with the Trump administration.

Organizers estimated around 1,500 showed up for the rally in Summerville, while over 3,200 gathered for the protest in North Charleston. Saturday’s estimates dwarfed crowds that gathered in Hampton Park for a “No Kings” demonstration back in June.

Larger crowds in Charleston’s October rallies mirror national trends of growing discontent. Trump had a net approval rating of -12% on June 14, the day of Charleston’s last “No Kings” protest, and that rating has worsened to -15% today, according to YouGov data and analysis by The Economist. That data suggests 55% of the country currently disapproves of the job Trump is doing, while 40% approve and 5% aren’t sure.

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Protestors brandished mostly homemade signs emblazoned with slogans like “DOWN WITH TYRANTS” and “Healthcare NOT Billionaire care” alongside plenty of American flags, red, white, and blue apparel, and patriotic phrases like “ONE NATION UNDER GOD.” Several turned out in inflatable costumes, undoubtably a nod to dancing frog protestors spotted in Portland outside of an ICE facility.

Rallygoers around Charleston said they were showing out to speak out against what they said were attacks by the Trump administration on the founding principles of America, democracy itself, and the civil liberties that make the country unique.

“I’m just out here to support democracy,” said Brian, a protestor at the Summerville rally. “And more importantly, to support the right to petition the government and to protest and exercise our freedom of speech, because it’s what our founders fought for, you know?”

“I am here basically as a duty of citizenship,” said another Summerville rallygoer, Gray S., who said he wasn’t involved in politics until Trump came to power. “But my feeling about what has happened with Trump and the MAGA movement is something very threatening to the basic civil liberties of our country.” He continued:

You know, I think there are kind of like two different layers to our society. There’s one layer where we fight about policies, you know, where do we want a little more taxes, a little less taxes? That’s what Democrat and Republican is. But all that sits on a foundation that’s about democracy. It’s about civil liberties. Do I have the right to come out here and share my opinion, or is that right taken away from me? Is that fundamental liberty taken away from me? So when I see people, you know, being stopped on the street by someone wearing a mask, unwilling to share their ID and carted off to be incarcerated without even being able to contact their family or lawyer, that’s super scary.

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“Every person here loves America, and that’s why we’re out here,” North Charleston rally organizer Anne Ostapiej said.

Republicans like Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Ted Cruz criticized the protests in the leadup, labelling “No Kings” demonstrations as “Hate America” rallies and claiming they are funded by George Soros through a donation a foundation of the billionaires’ granted to major “No Kings” organizer Indivisible. Nonprofits are regularly employed to contribute to organizing mass political demonstrations in America, like when millions were reportedly set aside to pay Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Donald Trump, Jr.’s Save the US Senate, and Tea Party Express for their various roles in organizing the Jan. 6, 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C.

“The Trump administration is calling us paid leftist dangerous people while we’re walking around in inflatable costumes, blowing bubbles and doing the Cupid shuffle,” Indivisible Charleston head Kristy Kinny told News 4 on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s protests.

Republican South Carolina State Rep. Jordan Pace said in an interview Thursday that demonstrations like “No Kings” don’t sway his legislative votes “even remotely.”

“You should not be a lawmaker if you think that,” 16-year-old Hanahan resident Jack at the Summerville rally said Saturday in response to Pace’s comment. “It shows that you do not have the ability to comprehend the things that South Carolinians want in the future for the state and I believe that you should not be a lawmaker.”

READ MORE | “Nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests spark fierce political debate“

Charleston’s demonstrations were part of over 2,600 nationwide that occurred Saturday, with millions estimated to have participated in “No Kings” protests in towns and cities across the United States. Elsewhere in the Palmetto State, hundreds gathered on the steps of the South Carolina Statehouse and outside the Horry County Courthouse. As of publication, the demonstrations around the state have been peaceful, though a woman was arrested in Myrtle Beach for driving by a protest at Chapin Memorial Park and brandishing a gun, according to reports.