The Trumpian Republican campaign to smear the “No Kings Day” protest is utterly failing, as more and more October 18 events are popping up across the country. There’s now over 2500 events planned — with 17 in San Diego County alone.
On Wednesday, Oct. 15, House Speaker Mike Johnson framed the upcoming “No Kings Day” as a “Hate America rally.” He doubled down.
“Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you see pro-Hamas supporters. I bet you see antifa types. I bet you see the Marxists in full display.”
Other Republicans stumbled over themselves in joining Johnson smears. Representatives Steve Scalise and Lisa McClain also referred to the protest as the “Hate America rally.” Last week, Johnson began the tilt of villainizing constitutionally protected protest when he inexplicably claimed that the “No Kings Day” demonstration was somehow to blame for the government shutdown. “It’s being told to us that they won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally, ’cuz they can’t face their rabid base,” Johnson said of Democrats at the time.
Yet, this campaign is backfiring. There is more and more talk about the protests, more and more events are being planned, more and more pissed off Americans are planning to attend. Millions are expected. Just 4 months ago, in June, more than 5 million Americans demonstrated in small towns and major cities across the country. And the coordinated “No Kings” protests became one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history— definitely the largest since Trump returned to the White House for a second term. See The New Republic
Organizers are preparing for a second “No Kings” day with marches and rallies planned in more than 2,500 locations nationwide— including the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
You know it’s going to be big this time around, with 17 events being planned within San Diego County. Besides the 3 combined events in downtown San Diego, there’s No King events in Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, San Diego State University, Mira Mesa, Carmel Valley, Rancho Bernardo, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Ramona, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Vista and even Borrego Springs — (see details here).
Here’s some reporting from Yahoo:
The movement, organized by Indivisible and a broad coalition of labor unions and activist networks, is positioning the October demonstrations as a referendum on what they call repeated “authoritarian power grabs” by the Trump Administration, including the recent deployment of federal forces in American cities and attempted censorship of late night TV hosts. Organizers have called on Americans to gather peacefully across the nation to “remind President Trump and his enablers: America has No Kings.”
The protests are set to come amid a government shutdown that has left large parts of the federal workforce furloughed or fired. Several prominent Republicans in recent days have accused Democrats of prolonging the government shutdown to align with the upcoming “No Kings” protests. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News that Democrats wouldn’t vote to reopen the government until after Saturday’s “hate America rally” because “they can’t face their rabid base.”
But protest leaders say the movement’s tone will be festive and peaceful, and that their protest is not a factor in the shutdown negotiations. “What this is about is everybody coming together and demonstrating—we don’t do kings in America,” Indivisible’s executive director Ezra Levin told MSNBC last week. “They’re going to have funny signs, there’s going to be chanting, there’s going to be dancing, there’s going to be singing.”
Yet, Republicans are blatantly mischaracterizing the attendees of the nationwide “No Kings” rally, in an attempt to criminalize dissent against Trump. These protests, which have been recurring since the beginning of the second Trump administration, have been notably tame, reportedly populated by older, liberal white people who love America but hate Trump’s policies. The temperate collective action would likely not be left enough for anyone who was ostensibly anti-fascist. Republicans’ outlandish predictions for who is likely to attend are simply setting the stage for law enforcement crackdowns on protesters’ First Amendment rights.
The speaker’s suggestion that protesting the government is un-American is particularly disturbing, as it is not only a historically American activity, but also a foundational right supported by the U.S. Constitution—a right that Republicans such as Johnson seem to care about less and less everyday.
The Rag will be engaging in a live-blog during the hours of the protests in San Diego and a few of our writers and friends will be roaming around in them, sending in reports and photos. You, dear reader, can do the same. Send photos to us (1000 or smaller) obragblog@gmail.com
But bottomline, get out and defend democracy and our country against Trump, the would-be king.
