TRUMP SAYS HE IS NOT A KING
Trump has said little about Saturday’s protests. But in an interview with Fox Business aired on Friday, he said: “They’re referring to me as a king – I’m not a king.”
More than 300 grassroots groups helped organise Saturday’s marches, Greenberg said. The American Civil Liberties Union said it provided legal guidance and “de-escalation” training to tens of thousands of people to act as marshals at the various marches.
While the Democratic Party has coped with internal divisions over the best way to oppose Trump, party establishment figures such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive firebrands like US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both voiced their support for the “No Kings” movement.
Saturday’s protests were aimed at building on grassroots momentum gained by organisers of some 2,000-plus “No Kings” protests that were staged on Jun 14, coinciding with Trump’s 79th birthday and a rare military parade in Washington.
REPUBLICANS CLAIM PROTESTS ARE ANTI-AMERICAN
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, on Friday echoed a common refrain among his party, labeling the “No Kings” protests “the hate America rally”.
Other Republicans have accused organisers of the rallies of stoking an atmosphere that might spur more political violence, especially in the wake of the September assassination of right-wing activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking on Saturday to a gathering of Marines at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, made no mention of the protests. But he criticised Democrats over the government shutdown that began early this month in a partisan standoff over federal appropriations.
Dana Fisher, a professor at American University in Washington and author of several books on American activism, forecast that Saturday could see the largest protest turnout in modern US history.
She expected that over 3 million people would take part based on registrations and participation in the June events.
Overall turnout for the Jun 14 “No Kings” rallies was estimated at 4 million to 6 million, according to a crowd-sourcing analysis published by the prominent data journalist G Elliott Morris on his Strength in Numbers blog site.
Fisher said the protests were “not going to change Trump’s policies”, but could “embolden elected officials at all levels who are in opposition to Trump”.
Source: CNA
