{"id":168774,"date":"2025-10-20T17:49:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/no-kings-protesters-on-their-hopes-for-resistance-movement-against-trump-if-we-lose-momentum-we-lose-the-fight-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T17:49:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:49:57","slug":"no-kings-protesters-on-their-hopes-for-resistance-movement-against-trump-if-we-lose-momentum-we-lose-the-fight-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/no-kings-protesters-on-their-hopes-for-resistance-movement-against-trump-if-we-lose-momentum-we-lose-the-fight-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"No Kings protesters on their hopes for resistance movement against Trump: \u2018If we lose momentum, we lose the fight\u2019 – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourteen protesters from LA to DC share thoughts on new leaders, shutdown negotiations, and Republican policies
Millions across all 50 US states march in No Kings protests against Trump<\/a>
No Kings protests across the US: in pictures<\/a>
Saturday\u2019s No Kings protests brought millions to the streets<\/a> across all 50 states in the latest demonstration against Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s administration<\/a> amid a government shutdown<\/a>. But many protesters are already strategizing about what to do next.
Some said continuing protests were a sign of vibrant civil resistance against the administration\u2019s heavy-handed policies, which have challenged legal and constitutional norms in the US. They also discussed economic boycotts and strikes.
Others were concerned it would take more Americans feeling direct impact to catalyze change. \u201cI think we have to see the demise before it can turn around, sadly, but we\u2019re here to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen,\u201d said Eric Stone, a 35-year-old from Oklahoma who attended the protest in Washington DC<\/a>.
Guardian reporters covered protests in Atlanta<\/a>, Washington DC<\/a>, Chicago and Los Angeles<\/a> and asked attenders why they showed up, what they are hoping to see from the resistance movement, and whether the Democratic party was an effective opposition party. Here is what they said:
A Native American originally from the Omaha tribe in Nebraska and Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico who now lives in Washington DC<\/strong>
\u201cI think there are brilliant minds who are here today who know what bad legislation, bad policies, can do to our entire country, and what the future looks like if we continue down, not able to stop what\u2019s happening and proceeding. These are all people from different walks of life, different skills and and levels of masteries in their own disciplines.
\u201cI believe the [leaders] who are vocal are definitely making waves and doing what they\u2019re supposed to do, but I think there are others who are still on the fence. [There are] key issues that we need them to be 100% towards democracy, and it feels like they\u2019re not. It feels like they are sticking to the old rules. But we have all set a set of new rules right now and they need to look at what those rules are to make up their decisions in their backrooms. And then speak on the floor what those are, what we are fighting on the streets.
\u201cSo No Kings, I think, is the pinnacle of what we\u2019re so close to right now, having a king. Once martial law goes into place, we would be under that threat, and we don\u2019t know what the end of it looks like really, other than changing the constitution, which I think is easier done than we thought ever could be. This movement may turn into more than No Kings. It may turn into saving lives, period \u2013 saving our life, saving our freedom to be United States citizens because anybody right now can be told you\u2019re<\/a> not a<\/a> citizen<\/a> any more.\u201d
No Kings protester<\/strong>
\u201cPeople are waking up because right now, it\u2019s affecting people immediately in their day-to-day lives. It\u2019s affecting our health insurance. It\u2019s affecting our ability to just live our lives as we choose to live them. The government is trying to tell us how to run our lives, and that\u2019s just not acceptable in the United States. As far as leadership is concerned, we\u2019ve been disappointed on the leaders that we should have, particularly in Congress, and we\u2019re hoping that this gives them the courage to stand up. We\u2019re proud of what they\u2019re doing right now, not opening up the government until we have proper healthcare covered. But they need to do a lot more doing that, so I hope they do.
\u201cJust yesterday, I got a notice from my health insurance company about my premiums going up \u2013 they\u2019re almost doubling. They put straight out that they are not going to cover any healthcare that is for transition purposes, so our transgender Americans will not have coverage<\/a> under the plan that I have. That is totally unacceptable. I teach young people and I\u2019ve encountered trans youth, and they have told me that without this healthcare, it makes some of them want to commit suicide.
\u201cI think [what Republicans have done has] been despicable. They have cut so many programs just so that they can give tax breaks to rich people<\/a>, make billionaires trillionaires … Our taxes aren\u2019t going to go down. We\u2019re not going to see any benefit from it and we\u2019re going to have the same taxes, if not more, and we\u2019re going to have less in benefits that we have paid for. This is a tyrannical regime in office right now and they need to resign. They can\u2019t handle the job. They\u2019re incompetent and they\u2019re mean. They\u2019re cruel to people in the United States and that is anti-American. It is un-Christian and it\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d
A former Republican from Maryland who switched parties during Bill Clinton\u2019s administration. He said he hadn\u2019t voted for Trump in any elections<\/strong>
Reid was holding up a sign of the founding fathers with \u201cNo Kings\u201d on it.
\u201cIt\u2019s actually my wife\u2019s idea, but these were the original No Kings gang and they\u2019re the ones who first had said \u2018No kings in America.\u2019 And then on the back we have the original Bill of Rights, which has the part about freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion and the right of people to peaceably assemble. So we and the people here are standing up for what America is supposed to be \u2026 We\u2019re the ones who represent what real America is. Those rightwingers and the White House and Congress \u2013 they are betraying everything this country was supposed to be about, and that\u2019s why people, common people, have to stand up.
\u201cI think that some Democratic governors like Gavin Newsom [in] California and JB Pritzker in Illinois are doing very well. They\u2019re standing up. And I mean, there is a limit to what they can do with the bloc, they\u2019re totally out of power right now. But state government, Democratic state governors, some of them are standing up \u2013 not all unfortunately, but some of them.
\u201cI grew up in a Republican family. I was Republican up until about 20-some years ago, back when the party was about limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual rights. They have betrayed all of that. And the party that today calls themselves Republicans \u2013 they\u2019re not Republicans, they\u2019re fascists, and they\u2019re betraying my great-great-grandfather who served in the Union army in the civil war.\u201d
Identifies as an independent and said most of his family are Republican Trump supporters<\/strong>
\u201cMy family is Maga; my family is Trump supporters. I grew up in a small town where they didn\u2019t want a dictatorship. They didn\u2019t want people who were disrespectful to women. They didn\u2019t want people who were racist and all these hateful things. And yet here they are supporting and cheering on this man like they want him to be the second coming of God. And now that I\u2019m out here protesting this, it\u2019s like \u2026 everybody in that circle drank the Kool-Aid. <\/em>
\u201cI got people losing their jobs<\/a> [around me because of the shutdown]. They\u2019re scared that they can\u2019t pay their bills. They\u2019re stressing \u2026 and they\u2019re everyday people who work their jobs and work for this country to keep it running. And we\u2019re going to tell them they shouldn\u2019t be paid for, what for? <\/em>
\u201c<\/em>I support what they stand for. For the most part, you\u2019re not going to agree with everybody on everything. However, I feel like Democrats, they don\u2019t have, for a lack of better terms, the balls \u2013 they\u2019re too weak, because we always end up in this situation. The Democrats just want to talk for long hours<\/a> and go on TV and do these events, which is beautiful \u2026 It\u2019s powerful. However, you have access to that building right there. We\u2019re standing right next to the Capitol building. Go do something about it.\u201d
Former assistant secretary of defense for readiness in the Biden-Harris administration (only the second-ever out trans person to hold a Senate-confirmed position) and the co-founder of Out in National Security. She was a speaker at the rally<\/strong>
\u201cThe United States military is made up of people from every background, from every part of the country, to include immigrants and to include LGBTQ people. [Trump officials have] decided that you can\u2019t allow transgender service members to serve. [These members have] been in command of units flying aircraft. They are high-end engineers. They are small unit leaders. None of them have blown up or failed or been drummed out of service because of the fact that they\u2019re transgender. Each and every one of our 2.1 million service members are American heroes in their own way. You can\u2019t have people in that institution while you\u2019re trying to make trans people the enemy and the reason for oppression in that way.
\u201cThere should never be a shutdown, frankly, and that it\u2019s lasted this long is the fault of the [Republican] party, the political party that has all the levers of power right now \u2026 and a very willing supreme court to let them do pretty much what they want to do, pending appeal. This is democracy in action right here. This is our constitution and our civil rights in action. It\u2019s about \u2018we the people\u2019. As Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, it\u2019s government of the people, by the people, for the people. This is America at its best.\u201d <\/em>
Turned out on Saturday for her 42nd protest since Trump\u2019s inauguration. She wore a SpongeBob SquarePants costume to be \u2018whimsical\u2019<\/strong>
\u201cI have felt that the movement needed a face for a long time, someone to rally the troops, who we respect and admire. But who is that? I do not know.\u201d She suggested it might possibly be a figure like Barack Obama. \u201cThere\u2019s all these groups and these protests all coalesce, but I\u2019m afraid it\u2019s too fragmented. There needs to be one movement.\u201d
\u201cThis is not a joke,\u201d she said of Republicans\u2019 resistance to negotiate with Democrats over the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies. \u201cIf they defund people\u2019s health insurance by not continuing the subsidies, it\u2019s gonna be a mess. Even if they got that through, our healthcare is being so eroded by cutting<\/a> science<\/a> funding<\/a>. There\u2019s already reports of rural<\/a> hospitals<\/a> closing down. This is just going to spread through the country. It\u2019s going to be a nightmare.\u201d
Eschbach said she would definitely continue to protest \u2013 sometimes she will attend two to three a weekend. She is currently canvassing to help pass Proposition 50<\/a> in California, part of the plan to counter Texas\u2019s gerrymandered maps. \u201cI\u2019ll just carry on,\u201d she said. \u201cI write postcards, I go to protests, I talk to people.\u00a0 I\u2019ll do whatever I can.\u201d
Social worker in Los Angeles<\/strong>
Guppy comes from a long tradition of social justice activism \u2013\u00a0her parents marched with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. \u201cThe least I can do is be out here,\u201d she said.
Among the leaders stepping forward, Guppy mentioned her state\u2019s governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom<\/a>, who is widely expected to run for president in 2028. She credited the governor with going<\/a> \u201chead to head<\/a> and<\/a> toe to toe<\/a>\u201d with<\/a> the president. \u201cSometimes we have to fight fire with fire,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can\u2019t always take the easy road.\u201d
Guppy said she has many friends who are federal workers and have told her they want Democrats to keep fighting to preserve access to affordable healthcare and to constrain the Trump administration.\u00a0
\u201cI\u2019ve been protesting since the first big raid<\/a> on June 6,\u201d she said, and vowed to continue. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing as much as we can anytime that we can because it has to continue. If we lose the momentum, then we lose the fight.\u201d
No Kings protester<\/strong>
He said some people have stepped up to try to check Trump \u2013 the unions<\/a>, certain universities<\/a> and among Los Angeles\u2019s entertainment industry<\/a>, including Jane Fonda<\/a>.\u00a0 But he said he had been disappointed so far by the lack of response from the \u201cdotcom\u201d companies, such as Facebook and other tech giants. \u201cAll of those companies just seem to be going<\/a> along<\/a> with it<\/a> because it\u2019s good<\/a> for their<\/a> business<\/a>,\u201d he said.\u00a0
\u201cPeople have to get way out of their comfort zones,\u201d he added, suggesting the left-leaning movement needed more leaders willing to venture into less friendly territory and try to persuade people who may not be ideologically aligned with Democrats. \u201cEven though we might not agree on everything, we could agree that what\u2019s going on in the country is not good,\u201d he said.\u00a0 He added that he had friends who have left the country because of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration<\/a> crackdown<\/a>.\u00a0
He approved of the Democrats\u2019 hardball approach<\/a> to the government shutdown and would absolutely be willing to walk off the job. \u201cI think that we need to do a lot more like what they do in Europe, a general strike, meaning everybody walks out, not just Democrats,\u201d he said.\u00a0
From the west side of Chicago<\/strong>
\u201cMy parents are immigrants. I love them to death. \u2029I want Chicago to be a safe city. I want America to be a great nation for everybody. No human\u2019s illegal, so I\u2019m here to embody that and show everybody that we have all the power to make change.
\u201cWe need a Cesar Chavez, Malcolm X, Martin Luther [King], we need somebody to embody. Fred Hampton, you know, we\u2019re in Chicago.\u201d
From Rogers Park, a neighborhood in Chicago<\/strong>
Mebratu was carrying a sign depicting Silverio Villegas-Gonz\u00e1lez, who was killed<\/a> by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice<\/a>) last month.\u00a0
\u201c[I\u2019m here] giving a voice to a voiceless man that has been taken from us \u2013 unfairly and unlawfully \u2013 and his kids need justice.\u00a0
\u201cI\u2019m originally from Ethiopia and I consider myself a Chicagoan. We have values that we share and when our values are attacked, we come together. We\u2019re led by our values and what we stand for and what we want to pass on for our next generation.\u201d
No Kings protester<\/strong>
Weinberg held a sign referencing her great-grandmother, who died in the Holocaust.
\u201cIt\u2019s really personal<\/a> to me when I hear people getting grabbed off the streets<\/a> and taken away \u2026 I mean, many, many victims of the Holocaust don\u2019t know what happened to their relatives, but I happen to know that [my great-grandmother\u2019s] bones are in a mass grave \u2026 that\u2019s important history for people to remember.
\u201cPeople are getting disappeared. \u2029People are hiding. People are being murdered. People are being wounded. \u2029People are experiencing trauma. It\u2019s escalating.\u201d
A retired military veteran from Stone Mountain, Georgia<\/strong>
\u201cThere don\u2019t seem to be any [leaders of the resistance] at the moment, so we\u2019re it. Right now we got nobody. Where are they? [Chuck] Schumer-crats? Hakeem [Jeffries]? We got nobody.\u201d
Sumner doesn\u2019t agree with what the Democrats are doing regarding the shutdown. \u201cWe don\u2019t need to negotiate with fascists \u2026 You want our votes? Stop all this fascism. Stop all this arresting people in the street \u2026 It\u2019s a hell of a lot more than healthcare, ain\u2019t it?
\u201cWe gotta get the Trump regime out \u2013 all of them out. We gotta do it fast before they consolidate whatever they\u2019re doing \u2026 How far should we go? That\u2019s up to every individual. But I think people in America are in denial or they don\u2019t know how bad it\u2019s fixing to get.\u201d
Project manager from Atlanta<\/strong>
\u201cI would say AOC<\/a>, first of all, she would be a leader if I had to pick somebody. She would probably be up there. But as far as the protesters and on-the-ground people? I think it\u2019s better if it\u2019s more of a loose alliance of people. I don\u2019t really think we have a leader structure.
\u201cAfter the rally, we have to get [everyone] running for every office imaginable. There\u2019s lots of contests that go unchallenged.\u201d
Multimedia producer from Lawrenceville, Georgia<\/strong>
\u201cI work with a lot of government officials at my job as clients. With the shutdown happening, I\u2019ve been getting less work \u2026 and less work. Recently my boss politely told me, \u2018Hey, you know, if you don\u2019t want to come to work\u2019 \u2026 I can just stay home on certain days because of it. I do think Democrats are doing the right thing, but granted it does affect me and affect me in a big way. So I\u2019m willing to risk my paycheck for doing what\u2019s right.
\u201cI feel like this [protest] is actually something. We should be joining organisations, reading up, getting educated and knowledgable about the situation, or at least listening to outlets. You know, at least trying to join the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Fourteen protesters from LA to DC share thoughts on new leaders, shutdown negotiations, and Republican policiesMillions across all 50 US states march in No Kings protests against TrumpNo Kings protests across the US: in picturesSaturday\u2019s No Kings protests brought millions to the streets across all 50 states in the latest demonstration against Donald Trump\u2019s administration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}