"Such a high turnout means businesses and institutions that thought they must cater to the administration to appeal to a majority of Americans will be forced to recalculate.

And the protests showed that Americans care fervently about democracy."

#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/2

"Americans across all 50 states marched in protests against the Trump administration on Saturday, aligning behind a message that the country is sliding into authoritarianism and there should be no kings in the US.

Millions of people turned out for the No Kings protests, the second iteration of a coalition that marched in June in one of the largest days of protest in US history."

~ Rachel Leingang and Edward Helmore

#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/3

theguardian.com/us-news/2025/o…

Millions across all 50 US states march in No Kings protests against Trump

Crowds of Americans, many in costumes, aligned behind message that US is sliding into authoritarianism

^{Rachel Leingang (The Guardian)}

Noting that he spoke at the No Kings demonstration in Kingston, New York, Greg Olear says,

"The press estimates there were seven million Americans participating in the rallies. This figure seems low to me.... WaPo had it as the lead story yesterday. The craven New York Times led with the Venezuela stuff, which, in hindsight, seems like it was cooked up just so the New York Times would lead with it and not No Kings.)"

#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/4

gregolear.substack.com/p/sunda…

Sunday Pages: My "No Kings Day" Speech

Delivered at Academy Green Park, Kingston, New York, October 18, 2025

^{Greg Olear (PREVAIL by Greg Olear)}

Here's what Olear said at Kingston:

"If there’s one thing we can say about Donald, it’s that he’s unfit.

This is why we’ve come here today—to give him our message, which consists of just one single word—the word Donald Trump hates most of all to hear:

NO.

ICE in our cities? NO!

Soldiers in our streets? NO!

Political retribution? NO!

Plenary authority? NO!

No thrones. No crowns. NO KINGS!"

#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/5

"Today was the largest political protest in American history.

Don’t let Donald Trump pretend he’s popular, beloved, or even respected.
He isn’t. And he never has been."

~ Steve Hofstetter

#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/6

threads.com/@stevehofstetter/p…

Steve Hofstetter (@stevehofstetter) on Threads

Today was the largest political protest in American history. Don’t let Donald Trump pretend he’s popular, beloved, or even respected. He isn’t. And he never has been.

^Threads

"Nationwide protests comprised of millions of people are a direct rebuke to the president’s narrative. They send a signal to the most disconnected parts of the American public that the president is far from as popular as he says he is, and they send a clear warning to those institutions under pressure from the administration: Bend the knee and lose our business and support."

~ Jamelle Bouie

#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/7

nytimes.com/2025/10/18/opinion…

"To the degree that major protests could undermine the administration’s ability to exert political authority, it makes a whole lot of sense for Republicans and the White House to spend their energy attacking the No Kings movement.

And this, I think, should serve as an important reminder to opponents of the administration that for all its boasts and bluster, it knows as well as anyone that the president is unpopular and that his administration is vulnerable."

#NoKings #Trump
/8

"The president posted an AI video showing himself as a pilot, wearing a crown, literally dumping shit on protesters from the air: A clear statement of what he feels about Americans exercising their rights to free assembly and free speech."

~ Anne Applebaum

#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/9

anneapplebaum.substack.com/p/w…

Will the Beacon Go Dark?

What happens when "democracy" isn't part of our identity anymore?

^{Anne Applebaum (Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum)}

"Trump was totally unhinged last night after he found out how big the No Kings Protests were. He was posting weird AI videos of himself wearing crowns. Then he posted an AI video of himself flying a fighter jet and defecating on peaceful protestors at the No Kings protest in Manhattan. Yeah, that was not a typo. He posted a video of himself dropping feces on the faces of peaceful protestors."

~ Ben Meiselas

#NoKings #democracy #Trump #authoritarianism
/10

meidasplus.com/p/important-sun…

IMPORTANT Sunday Message from Meidas Founder!!

By Ben Meiselas

^{Ben Meiselas (Meidas+)}