A huge anti-Trump rally will take to the streets of Washington DC today – the first major protest against him in the capital since he took office.
It follows a wave of peaceful protests in June under the banner “No Kings” attracted millions of Americans in thousands of towns and cities – but which avoided DC.
Ahead of the rally, Republicans have broken with their pledge to “turn down the temperature” of political rhetoric in the US – branding it a “Hate America” march, and saying those involved are linked to terror groups – none of which is true.
Between events held in 2,100 cities and towns earlier this year, between 4 and 6 million Americans turned up to protest against Donald Trump’s antidemocratic leanings.
And more are expected to turn out today – with organisers saying RSVPs for the rallies have doubled since Republicans started attacking them in public.
Here’s everything you need to know as it happens.
Republican rhetoric has been ramping up
For weeks after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Republicans called for a lowering of the temperature, with House Speaker Mike Johnson specifically calling for the left to stop calling their political opponents “fascists”, because it might provoke political violence.
With that in mind, here’s a list of the things Mike Johnson has said about today’s rally, and about protesters planning to peacefully assemble to express their opposition to Donald Trump:
- “We refer to it by its more accurate description, ‘The Hate America Rally.’ I’m not sure how anybody can refute that.”
- It will draw “the pro-Hamas wing” and the “Antifa people” (Bearing in mind that as of last month, Antifa has been classified as a domestic terror group, despite not being an actual group).
House Republican Tom Emmer went further, saying Democrats supporting the protest had caved to the “terrorist wing of their party”.
“People Power” is greatest threat to Trump
“There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, among the key organizers.
As Republicans and the White House dismiss the protests as a rally of radicals, Levin said their own sign-up numbers are growing. More than 2,600 rallies are planned in cities large and small, organized by hundreds of coalition partners.
They said rallies are being planned within a one-hour drive for most Americans.
“I’m not a king” says man hosting $1m a plate fundraiser
This is the third mass mobilisation since Trump’s return to the White House and it is expected to be the largest.
It comes 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 organisers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed Washington for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago
Trump is outta here…
As ‘No Kings’ protesters prepared to take to the streets of Washington DC last night, Trump high tailed it to Florida.
But if he was hoping to completely avoid people shouting loudly about how awful he is, he might be disappointed. There are about 2,500 protests planned for later today, including one in West Palm Beach, about four miles from Mar A Lago.