All you protest kids
By 
Today has been one of the largest mass mobilizations in American history:
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.
People in communities big and small came together nationwide with signs, marching bands, a huge banner with the US constitution’s preamble that people could sign, and inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance beginning in Portland, Oregon.
The rallies are a turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats seemed at a loss as to how to counter Republicans’ grip of the White House and both houses of Congress after stinging national election losses.
“What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, a key organizing group, told the Associated Press. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”
In Chicago, at Grant Park’s Butler Field, at least 10,000 people assembled, many with signs opposing federal immigration agents or mocking Trump. TV stations with feeds from protests warned viewers they could not be responsible for the language used in the signage. A later crowd estimate by the Chicago Tribune put the number at 100,000.
Some of them said “Hands Off Chicago”, a rallying cry that began when the president first announced his intent to send the national guard into the city. Others read “Resist Fascism”, but many others used language unsuitable for broadcast.
The crowd erupted in chants of “Fuck Donald Trump” when Illinois representative Jonathan Jackson took the stage.
Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, told the crowd the Trump administration had “decided that they want a rematch of the civil war”, which the white supremacist Confederacy lost to the Union in the 19th century.
“We are here to stand firm and stand committed that we will not bend, we will not bow, we will not cower, we will not submit,” Johnson said. “We do not want troops in our city.”
I am going to maintain that the second (narrow) Republican popular vote victory since 1988 does not represent a permanent national shift toward Trumpism.
Many great and heartening scenes from across the country, and somehow I particularly enjoyed this one:
I’ve seen just one counter-protester at No Kings San Diego. He’s got a Trump 2024 flag and this guy has been following him around for probably an hour playing Benny Hill and circus music.
[image or embed]— Matt Novak (@paleofuture.bsky.social) Oct 18, 2025 at 12:07 PM
In general, “happy warriors for democracy” seemed to be the mood, which is a great way to respond.