Outside of typical remarks from Donald Trump, JD Vance and Mike Johnson and a Fox News report, party stayed mum
Republican voices were mostly silent as No Kings rallies and marches against Trump administration policies unfurled on Saturday, many in the spirit of a street party that countered the “hate America” depiction advanced by senior members of the party.
Instead of provocation, there were marching bands, huge banners with “we the people” references to the US constitution, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance.
It was the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and came 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 protest organizers warn are a slide toward authoritarianism.
It’s almost like “peaceful protest” is something that fascists can simply ignore.
Fascism on a national scale requires the consent or fear of the people in order to maintain power. They have to look strong. Anything that disturbs their voting bloc or contradicts the official narrative, especially on a broad stage, is going to cause them exponential problems because it looks like weakness. That’s part of why fascism is inherently weak. Being able to ignore dissent is a luxury afforded only to the truly strong.
The fact that they aren’t saying anything in this case means that they’ve calculated that the erosion of their base is preferable to letting the news cycle keep running with this.
You don’t understand how dictatorship works. Something as small as a busted escalator can bring down regime. You can’t afford to look foolish.
The Woman’s March, BLM, Occupy Wallstreet, and the first No Kings were all successfully ignored. Millions of Americans marching is clearly not enough for us to be heard.
7 million people is roughly 2% of the population. It’s 10% of the people in this country that couldn’t be bothered to vote. There’s also no threat or demands to accompany this protest. Like what are the people in power supposed to think. An easily ignorable voting block is slightly agitated enough to spend a few hours holding a sign? Are they going to stop working or consuming? Are they going to gather votes and banish the two parties that have failed us? No lmao they’re just gonna get together once every couple of months, there’s absolutely no pressure to a public gathering.