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America Is Showing Up
The crowds were massive, joyous and peaceful. In every state and around the globe, millions turned out Saturday to reject Donald Trump and MAGA governance in what USA Today called “an unmistakable display of political force.”
The third No Kings day was the largest yet—and the most emphatic rebuke so far to an administration that since the last No Kings protest in October has expanded its authoritarian overreach to include the ICE murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota and a unilateral war of choice in Iran.
Organizers estimate that over 8 million people participated in 3,300 events—or one in every fifty Americans—making Saturday the largest single day of protest in US history.
Where people gathered is as important as the size of the turnout. As USA Today reported:
The demonstration outside the Minnesota State Capitol for the marquee “No Kings” rally, with Bruce Springsteen and Jane Fonda on the bill, wasn’t the most notable development during the day of protests on March 28.
More notable was the “No Kings” march in Staunton, Virginia. And Salisbury, Maryland. Rockford, Illinois. Beaver, Pennsylvania. Eugene, Oregon. Chillicothe, Ohio. Port Huron, Michigan. Flatwoods, West Virginia. And more than 3,000 other places across the country, plus a scattering around the world.
Chillicothe, Ohio and Flatwoods, West Virginia are not generally known as hotbeds of radicalism, but people turned out there and throughout red America to raise their voices in protest. That’s why No Kings III cannot credibly be dismissed by Republicans as a coastal or liberal phenomenon. No Kings organizers said two-thirds of those who signed up to attend an event lived in suburban, small town and rural areas—a 40% increase from October and consistent with the growing rejection of Donald Trump among a broad range of the population.
And it matters.
One of the most consequential tools we have to fight Trump’s takeover of the country is our First Amendment right to assemble peacefully. With the freedom to gather in community we find likeminded others who amplify our voices. And the more we exercise that right, the more we preserve it.
Saturday was a gigantic demonstration that we are not afraid of Trump’s demands for obedience. Far from silencing dissent, people across the country turned out to mock him with signs and costumes, to laugh at him, and to declare they will not be cowed by a clown who pretends to be a king.
Historian Timothy Snyder, who has written extensively and prominently about tyranny, posted on his Substack last week that robustly supporting the No Kings protest is one of the most important things we can do to fight Trump’s authoritarianism.
For authoritarians to win, they need their supporters to be active, the majority to be silent, and their actions to seem normal. Protest shows that their supporters are in the minority, that the majority will not be silent, and that it is the people who set the standards. …
Protest keeps us organized. There will not only be more people protesting this time, there will be more protests. Thousands of them. And this is the work of organizers, of civil society. When you attend a protest, you have a chance to meet others, and see how they organize. …
Protest wins elections. In the situation that we are in now, the opposition must win elections to halt the shift to a one-person, one-party authoritarian regime. And although these elections will be difficult, they can be won. But winning them means building a big, active coalition, of which the opposition party is just one part. Protestors are another part. The groups we build together are what make the difference.
Active. Organized. Engaged. The longterm payoff of Saturday’s rallies will be in expanding the pro-democracy, anti-Trump coalition in preparation for the midterm elections. That is when the millions who took to the streets Saturday will have the ability to reclaim power from Trump and his acolytes.
Saturday was a landmark moment in the defense of democracy.
It showed continued growth in the coalition that will resist and outlast Donald Trump.
It was a demonstration of strength in the face of tyranny.
It was a joyous opportunity for neighbors and strangers to express their shared opposition to what Trump is doing to the country and the world.
And it was an important organizational moment, as participating in a protest is the kind of investment that can motivate people to participate in future protests, engage their friends and family members in the pro-democracy movement—and vote.
That’s why the huge, peaceful, widespread participation we saw during No Kings III was so important.
America showed up on Saturday. And it’s a good sign that America will show up in November.
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