From New York to Los Angeles, passing through the capital Washington and the cities targeted by the administration for migrants and crime, millions of Americans took to the streets to protest against Donald Trump. “No kings”, “we don’t want kings”, the slogan written on tens of thousands of signs and banners waved by protesters across the United States. Over 2,500 marches against what the organizers defined as the “authoritarianism” of the American president. “The president thinks his power is absolute”, they state on their website. “But in America we have no king and we will not back down in the face of chaos, corruption and cruelty.” The wave of protests reached Europe with Berlin, Madrid, Rome and Florence hosting solidarity demonstrations.
The Donald did not seem disturbed by this mega mobilization – last June there were 5 million of them, 1 million in the capital alone – and replied that he was “not a king”. Democrats and independents rode the protest on social media but also by participating directly. Bernis Sanders took the stage in Washington to declare that “throughout the history of this country, people have fought and died to preserve our democracy. We will not let Trump or anyone else take it away from us.” Hollywood celebrities also mobilized. Robert De Niro has released a short video in which he urges Americans to unite to “raise their voices in a non-violent way”. “We have had two and a half centuries of democracy… often challenging, sometimes chaotic, always essential,” said the Hollywood star. “Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it from us: King Donald I.” While passionate Jane Fonda, Kerry Washington, John Legend, Alan Cumming and others participated in the marches.
On the opposite front, the Grand Old Party condemned the mobilization, branding it as “the gathering of those who hate America”, while Republican mayors and governors – from Kansas to Texas – alerted the National Guard. “The soldiers are needed to contain a demonstration linked to Antifa,” declared the Republican from the Lone Star State, referring to the radical left movement declared a terrorist group by Trump a few weeks ago. Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, also alerted troops. And, precisely on the soldiers in the cities, Trump continues his offensive against Chicago and Illinois. After a federal appeals court confirmed the suspension of the National Guard in and around the city, the American president turned to the Supreme Court asking to give him authorization to militarize democratic centers as has already happened in Washington, Portland and Los Angeles. In the complaint filed Friday by the Justice Department, Attorney General D. John Sauer argued that soldiers are needed in the Chicago area to “prevent continued and intolerable risks to the life and safety” of federal agents engaged in the American president’s offensive against migrants.