Millions of Americans peacefully participated in “No Kings” protests Saturday, demonstrating against — in the words of the organizers — “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy.” They came out in massive numbers in hundreds of locations, from urban metropolises to small towns to rural areas across the country. Together the attendees dwarfed the sparse crowds at President Donald Trump’s military parade the same day in Washington, where the crowds fell far below expectations.
Fatigue from resisting Trump seems to have ebbed in a definitive way.
It’s satisfying that such a vast number of Americans came out — many of them in rain, and many of them as first time-protesters — to reject Trump’s autocratic agenda. It’s even more satisfying to notice that taking to the streets is emerging as a habit of the body politic: Mass protests are becoming more common, and fatigue from resisting Trump seems to have ebbed in a definitive way.
In the early months of Trump’s second term, it was common to ask “Where is the resistance?” Whereas Trump’s first inauguration triggered the largest single-day protest in American history, his second inauguration was met with far smaller demonstrations. Combined with Democratic Party leaders’ timidity and a business community that was much more receptive to Trump than in his first term, there was a widespread sense that Trump’s victory had fundamentally demoralized the left and that MAGA was the new normal.
In April, that began to change with the “Hands off!” rallies that swept scores of cities across the country. A group of researchers affiliated with Harvard University’s Crowd Counting Consortium have said that those protests were the largest the group had recorded “since the nationwide uprising following the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor in 2020.” Those rallies were followed just two weeks later by the first round of national “No Kings” protests. Combined, the researchers estimate that those two days “account for between 1.2 million and 1.8 million in participants.”
Throughout the spring, protesters also demonstrated at Tesla dealerships to object to CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration. Those protests, combined with consumer boycotts, likely contributed to the sharp decline of Tesla’s stock price — and may have played a role in accelerating Musk’s departure from the Trump administration.
Now in June, we’re seeing another round of mass demonstrations. Los Angeles’ protests against mass deportations last week inspired solidarity protests across the country. And this weekend’s “No Kings” protests were enormous.
Another encouraging phenomenon: According to the Crowd Counting Consortium researchers, the total number of protest events this year is far outpacing 2017. That’s a proxy for how organized protest coalitions are — and suggests that activist networks may be building up more extensively than during the comparable part of Trump’s first term.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom set a model for the rest of the Democratic Party last week in his response to protests in Los Angeles. While denouncing violent protesters, he accurately pointed out that the overwhelming majority of protests are nonviolent — and he effectively put his weight behind them. Other Democrats should follow his example, both because polls show Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the protests and, more simply, because freedom of assembly is worth defending.
Activist fatigue is a very real thing, and I can understand why Trump’s second inauguration was met by more of a grumble than a shout. That the anti-Trump coalition is getting its footing and establishing a rhythm with wide-scale protests may be a sign that some have gotten a bit of rest — or have decided that, tired as they may be, the pace of democratic backsliding is intolerable. Whatever the reason, momentum is building, and when public protest movements become big and loud enough, they can be a source of energy and inspiration unto themselves.
