Republicans Should Be Afraid—Just Look at Who Joined No Kings Protests

Listening to any member of the Trump administration talk about the No Kings protest, one would have expected complete anarchy. Masked men with Molotov cocktails, smoke in the air, lit American flags, police and National Guardsmen in riot gear – something more like January 6th.

“This crazy No Kings rally this weekend, which will bring together the far left, the hardest, most unhinged core of the Democratic Party, which is a big headline,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. saidsaying Democrats were, for some reason, waiting for the rally to take place before negotiating to end the government shutdown. “No king equals no paycheck.”

Republicans repeated something along these lines for more than a week before the rally.

“We’re calling this the ‘Hate America’ rally that will take place on Saturday,” President Mike Johnson said the same day. “Let’s see who shows up for this. I bet you’ll see pro-Hamas supporters, I bet you’ll see antifa types, I bet you’ll see Marxists in full demonstration, people who don’t want to stand up and defend the fundamental truths of this republic. And we do.”

Republican Senator Roger Marshall called it is a “protest paid for by Soros where his professional demonstrators are showing up”, while the House Majority Whip, Tom Emmer, went further and called it an event for “terrorist wing» of the Democratic Party.

But to the dismay of the Republican Party, the No Kings rally in Washington, DC, was not lopsided, not very left-wing and entirely peaceful. The atmosphere was extremely energetic and family-friendly for young and old alike. People walked slowly, often accompanied by children. Countless participants wore large inflatable costumes, inspired by Portland Frog. There was live music, presentations and speeches from Bill Nye, Mehdi Hasan and Senators Bernie Sanders and Chris Murphy, among others. And even though the event was massive, the atmosphere was closer to that of a bustling farmers’ market on a nice Sunday morning than to the one the right was so desperately trying to convince people of.

But perhaps it’s just as shocking for Republicans: The estimated 200,000 people who showed up in Washington — out of an estimated seven million protesters nationwide — represented a vast contingent of Americans. Many of them seemed to care a lot about these “fundamental truths” that Johnson pretended to worry so much about.

One of those people was a 49-year-old woman wearing a huge inflatable costume depicting a bald eagle dressed as Uncle Sam. “It’s absurd. It’s everyday Americans watching…every day there’s something new that’s illegal or unconstitutional,” the eagle said when I asked about the Republican Party’s antifa and Hamas allegations. “I think the most American thing we can do is vote, and then the second most American thing you can do is peacefully protest…I’m proud to be an American, and I’m proud to be a part of this country, and I’m an incredible supporter of the Constitution of the United States.”

Darla, 67 (but 68 in a week), a military veteran and third-generation Philadelphian, placed a similar emphasis on what so many No Kings participants saw as a bastardization of America’s founding principles.

“[No Kings] means that we should have three powers, according to the Constitution, judicial, parliamentary and executive, and that they balance each other. And right now there is no balance,” she said. “One person, followed by all the little courtiers and puppeteers, makes decisions that are not balanced. The White House therefore plays the role of the king.

She also made a point of leaning In to the GOP’s brand of mass antifa.

“It’s antifa. It’s anti-fascism. We have a government that is moving very quickly towards a fascist non-democracy,” Darla continued. “My mother served in World War II. She was anti-fascist. She served against a fascist government in Germany and Italy, you know, the triad there. So, yeah, it’s anti-fascism. Give me a break.”

It took perhaps about five minutes among this solidly liberal, “Protestant in a good way” crowd of No Kings to completely break down the Republican facade. These included retirees, public school teachers, students, and many former civil servants who had been laid off or bought out when DOGE was eliminated.

Chantel, an African-American woman in her 40s, worked for the Air Force as a civilian for 20 years before taking a buyout after receiving the infamous “crossroads” email from DOGE. She attended the event with her mother, Janet Winn, and held a sign that read “Fight the Radical Right.”

“I couldn’t demonstrate before I officially became a government official. So from October 1, I can go and demonstrate. So this is my first demonstration. I’m happy to be here,” she told me. “DEI was also part of my reasoning when I made the decision to move forward and leave government, because they were trying to eliminate and dismantle all these things that we were working for, as far as equity and promotions and hiring, it was really disappointing. And to take away all the black history and black celebrations that we would have… It was just disappointing after 20 years of being with them because the military has always summer, to my opinion, as the most impartial organization. We went back. all the progress we have made.

Lee, a resident of Fairfax, Virginia, was laid off from his job as a federal contractor for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “It was wiped off the map, no conversation, nothing,” he said. He was there with his wife Laura, a public school teacher. They rejected the idea of ​​being antifa or being in the pay of George Soros.

“No, and I can assure you I could use the money. I wish someone had paid me to be here!” Lee said. “I am here of my own will, I believe in it 100 percent. I refuse to back down from this madness that is hitting us.”

Chuck Epps, 76, a retired local journalist and school teacher from Richmond, took a similar stance in distancing himself from such claims, recalling his experiences as an anti-war protester in the 1960s.

“I’m not a fan of violence. I never have been. I’m old enough to have been in anti-Vietnam protests and getting tear gassed and stuff. And when that kind of street violence happens, I run away. I’m not for violence of any kind,” he said. “99.999 percent of everyone here is here because they care, or they’re just voyeurs and want to check it out.”

“I think there is clearly a far-left fringe that is doing violent things, just as I would say there is a more predominant right-wing fringe that is committing a lot more violence and advocating it. But that’s not what anti-fascism is about. They’re trying to demonize anyone who opposes the goals of this administration. That’s gaslighting.”

Some members of this so-called left-wing fringe were present. A small pro-Palestinian contingent from Youth Demand DC and some members of DC’s Metro Democratic Socialists of America were gathered for a protest to raise awareness of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

I spoke to Sam Nelson, 33, a ten-year member of the DC Metro DSA, about his group’s place in this movement, especially since the Trump administration appears to have targeted them more than most of the other groups present.

“It’s not enough to just go to a march, and that’s why I think it’s very important that we as DSA show up as an organization, so we can tell people that this isn’t just about Trump. This has been building for years, if not decades,” Nelson told me. He also emphasized that while DSA members have received “strange looks” or been approached “cautiously,” they see it as an opportunity to work together rather than a moment of purity testing.

“The ruling class is very collective. They like to work together. The ruling class is also very internationalist. They like to work with right-wing oligarchs in other countries around the world. They work together. And we still have to work together… You have to go where the people are,” he continued. “Look at how many people there are here, especially federal workers. Go where people are mobilizing. And it may be different depending on where you live, and that’s okay… There are many, many roads that lead to Rome. And many paths leading to the socialist movement.”

It is obvious that the Republican proselytizing and alarming about the violence and agitators at this rally was strategic, but it is even more obvious that it was a poor strategy. You can’t cover your ears and shout “antifa” while hundreds of thousands of Americans march in the streets. It is laughable that an event co-signed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris could even serve as a sleeper cell for antifa, and yet Republicans repeat this lie over and over again, even as their policies – and their president – ​​become less and less popular.

“This is the ultimate spotlight on America that this administration is trying to provoke. Antifa is the people he doesn’t like,” Epps told me. “It’s smoke and mirrors, and it’s coming from the highest levels of the U.S. government.”