r/politics • u/pharrt • 1d ago
Massive anti-Trump protests expected Saturday in DC and across US
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/05/anti-trump-protests-hands-off231
u/wranglero2 23h ago
The protests will get larger & larger as the weather warms. People are scared by what’s happening.
148
u/247cnt 22h ago
And as they lose their jobs unfortunately. I've told all my representatives that if I lose my manufacturing job, my new full-time job is making sure they lose theirs, too!
25
u/XShadowborneX 18h ago
And then JD Vance will yell at them to go get a job!
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vance-ridicules-protesters-dont-you-all-have-jobs/
8
u/whichwitch9 16h ago
And ignore the US added less jobs than people were laid off... they killed the job market too
2
41
u/CombinationLivid8284 21h ago
Especially once the economic impact of trumps policies really start to hit.
Things are getting more and more tense. There needs to be an inciting incident. But know Trump he will provide it. He will do something stupid like order the protestors fired upon.
18
u/Acrobatic-Trouble181 19h ago
Trump has cornered himself with his stupidity. Republicans had a good, long run of platforming complete horseshit conspiracy theories for 50+ years in order to retain power, but it's finally reached a crescendo and they've ordained a complete moron to the throne, and capitulated all of their authority to him.
Now he's finally had the chance to make the utterly braindead changes to the economy he's been rambling about for years. He's the dog that caught the car, and now that it's blowing up in his face, he has no idea what to do.
If one thing is certain, it's that him and his cult won't admit fault, won't back down, and will keep doubling down on their collective mistake.
Trump will panic, and he will do something stupid like have protestors fired upon, and martial law enacted on some trumped-up (pun intended) bullshit excuse.
We all need to recognize and prepare for the inevitable here.
1
1
u/DumboWumbo073 14h ago
Trump will panic, and he will do something stupid like have protestors fired upon, and martial law enacted on some trumped-up (pun intended) bullshit excuse.
If anything like this happens. It’s over. It’s going to be a nightmare.
9
u/ucankickrocks 17h ago
I just got out of my rep’s town hall. The protests will get larger. My rep was getting ready to head to city hall for the protest and I am surprised she’s going to attend. Happy but surprised.
8
u/StoppableHulk 16h ago
I don't understand most politicians' reticence with this. This is exactly the climate where political careers are born. You have a horrible gibbering fool in the White House whom nearly everyone hates. You can easily cut your name on opposing him and actually leading people. It's a no-brainer.
2
u/ucankickrocks 14h ago
100% agree. The moment is calling for it. She’s been reserved in the past but she was very clear in the town hall. I just got a note that she did in fact speak at today’s rally.
4
u/Killer_Sloth 15h ago
Yes. There were at least 20k in Boston today and the weather was absolute ass. I can only imagine what it would have been on a nicer day.
2
u/Borne2Run 14h ago
Jobless people also tend to protest; especially with the mind boggling stupidity of these tariffs.
129
u/KareenTu 1d ago
The anti Vietnam war protests were iconic and had such an impact. I hope we can get similar images and passion from today’s demonstrations
51
u/katkost1 21h ago
My little town in NC had about 100 people when I passed by at 9 AM. And one little asshole holding a Trump sign.
6
u/DixieNorrmis Texas 15h ago
There’s always at least one
4
u/katkost1 15h ago
I made sure to ask loudly how he felt being such a fucking loser
2
u/DixieNorrmis Texas 14h ago
That’s their problem, they lack the ability to self reflect. And yes he is a complete fucking loser
21
u/glivinglavin Virginia 17h ago
Why is there not a megathread about this?
17
u/Mplus479 17h ago
I don't get why there are so few posts about it under news.
7
42
u/pharrt 1d ago
Summary:
Anti-Trump 'Hands Off' protests are planned across the US on Saturday, with over 1,000 events organized by MoveOn and other groups. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to rally against Donald Trump's perceived attacks on government, economy, and rights, following his recent tariff announcement and stock market fallout.
19
11
10
u/MintyFreshBreathYo Michigan 17h ago
I’m shocked by the turnout in my town. I was trying to take a nap in my car during my lunch break a few blocks away but the crowd was loud it kept me awake
7
u/Ticksdonthavelymph 16h ago
Yeah! There were over 3,000 people at the rally in Augusta Maine today. We are a town of 19,000. In a rural part of a rural state. I was brought to fucking tears to not be alone in my horror. I am so encouraged that we CAN beat them back
10
16
u/PuddingArsenic 23h ago
I'm not a U.S citizen, neither do I live there. But I do ask myself why there aren't any protest like there were during the civil rights movement or Vietnam war? Judging by what's happening in the U.S., there should be millions out on the street protesting. The lack of that is extremely disconcerting watching it from the outside.
I've seen explanations like the distances being too great or people need to work, but come on, the larger U.S cities have enough population density to get people on the street and people needing to work is true in other countries as well.
Even in countries like Turkey or Iran, people would be out on the street. And it is much more dangerous to protest there, the protestors might well disappear forever. All across Germany half a million people were out on the streets three months ago, and that was "only" because a party proposed a motion for stricter migration while accepting that it would only pass because of votes from the far right. Let's not even mention France, where they would have burned down half of Paris - I'm half joking of course.
I really do hope some sort of large scale protest movement starts, because otherwise I just have to ask: What the hell are you people doing?
41
u/OrdinarySpecial1706 23h ago
The American spirit has been systematically beaten down into submission by an onslaught of propaganda. Apathy is the new reality.
9
3
u/wiggmaster666 22h ago edited 22h ago
Beaten down, or largely not caring enough? Reddit does not resemble average US population I guess.
9
u/WhiteClawandDraw 21h ago edited 21h ago
It’s a combination. A large swatch of my fellow gen-z’ers have been conditioned to believe that direct action and civil disobedience is wrong or doesn’t work (see the failure of the BLM protests, the Woman’s March). The militarization of police has also contributed to fear of protesting, as policy forces now have full access to technology beyond anything that anti-war protesters of the 60s or union strikers in the 30s and 40s could be expected to deal with. There’s been a huge emphasis on voting as the sole arbiter of democracy and both political parties have pretty much ignored activists. Gen Z is also shifting to a very individualist mindset, where politics don’t really matter, and they want to just stick to their own lives and bettering themselves (to which I do not blame them at all).
10
u/plasticstranger 20h ago
I’m curious to hear where you’re from that you’d consider the BLM protests a failure. This is a genuine question, not a criticism, and I find it really interesting that different places saw different outcomes.
To put it into perspective, I’m from Richmond VA. The protests here drew large crowds and ended in a number of incidences of totally uncalled-for police violence, but it also led to the tearing down of several iconic Confederate statues on Monument Avenue. Not to say that’s a huge victory in the grand scheme of things, but it was something. There was a definite shift in the dialogue.
6
u/WhiteClawandDraw 20h ago
Oh that’s great! Yeah that definitely is a win, and the protests brought large attention to police violence and our legacy of racism. I also know in a few places police tactics regarding chokeholds have been banned. However, it did not fundamentally change the system of policing communities. Qualified Immunity still exists, and police militarization has only escalated. Symbolic change is good, but I was disappointed that not much has changed materially.
4
u/plasticstranger 20h ago
You’re absolutely right in that the reaction to the protests seemed like more of a doubling down than anything else, and that qualified immunity and police militarization are heinous blights on society with no clear remedy.
It will be interesting to see where these warmer months will be taking us, and while I wish no ill will on anyone that doesn’t deserve it, it was pretty funny to watch protesters huck a statue of Christoper Columbus into Fountain Lake.
19
15
u/TintedApostle 23h ago
I think it will take a bit of time and a few wins. The US public is beaten down so far and has been fed passive media non-stop for a decade.
15
11
u/historicalgeek71 22h ago
There are many reasons for this, some of which you’ve already mentioned, i.e. distance and jobs. However, things have changed since Vietnam, and even Iraq.
For one thing, there was no Fox News during Vietnam. Fox News is the most-watched news channel in the country, which has been spoon-feeding propaganda to the American public for decades at this point. They’ve been convinced that Trump is moving the country in the right direction, and anyone who says otherwise is either a liberal or a leftist, and therefore a threat or a hindrance. For another, and to expand on the jobs explanation, some employers may hold more conservative views and the fear that if a conservative boss finds out you were at a liberal protest, or if you get arrested at one, then you run the risk of losing your job, which means losing access to insurance.
Then there are the stories of protesters being black-bagged by police. Being arrested is enough to damage one’s job prospects, but being black bagged (or considering the possibility) is enough to frighten most people, especially with an administration that’s willing to encourage such methods. Then there are stories of how the police misuse “non-lethal” weapons (the one of a journalist losing an eye to a rubber bullet aimed directly at his face comes to mind). If the situation gets so severe that people are willing to take those risks, then these things won’t matter as much, but right now I think too many people are not willing to get uncomfortable (if that makes any sense, idk, I just woke up, haha!)
0
u/zdrads 14h ago
Because they don't give a shit? Can't blame them either, to be honest. People can't afford to buy a home. They can barely afford to eat. They don't even have healthcare when working a full time job. All of these things aren't bugs, they're features of the system and government wants it that way. What do you expect? Me to be upset that the system that threw me overboard is failing? Yeah, right... I'll be direct - I don't care if the system that doesn't give a crap about me fails.
2
u/historicalgeek71 13h ago edited 13h ago
Judging by the turnouts of today’s protests (having attended one today myself where hundreds showed up), I’d say there are plenty who care. Showing up and protesting is much more helpful than sliding into doomerism, since that would be unhealthy, draining, and completely useless. Here’s hoping this grows and that you feel better, mate!
18
u/Throwawaylikeme90 22h ago
I feel like what you and the people replying to you are missing a whole lot.
You know what those places have that we, the wealthiest (at least perhaps until Donnie gets his own Black Monday named after him) nation don’t?
Time. It’s fucking time, because for most of us, we don’t have a job that pays for us to have even a basic modicum of dignity or security to even think about missing a day of work, and a day of work might cost us four or five days of labor value because to survive missing a day of work we have to scalp our future earnings to a payday loan or some bullshit that has compounding interest of 470% because our country has always wanted poor folks dead.
Literally, our day to day would make a european worker fucking collapse to their knees and weep and that’s on a good day. How are we supposed to take time to maybe go get beaten or shot by MAGA shits or their police homies when a decent, healthy meal costs 3 hours at minimum wage, per mouth?
All these comments seriously undersell the amount of anger and bitterness we all have for being permafucked and overestimate the reluctance we’ll have when there isn’t anything left to do to stay alive.
Whatever happens, when it happens, will be Tsar Bomba level eruption.
-4
u/Acrobatic_Hamster686 21h ago
You’re right. That life sounds SO much better than engaging in activism to change that situation. You’ve really sold me on why Americans can’t protest. It sounds like you’re living the dream! /s
I don’t think you understand how pathetic this sounds when people around the world risk a lot more than losing their job to fight oppression.
7
u/Throwawaylikeme90 19h ago
What the fuck are you talking about exactly?
My job is safe. Im a career employee on contract till I’m 65, provided I provide 2080 hours of labor each year until I retire or die.
What I’m trying to drill into your head is my life is bearable but not great and i’m in a comfortable position.
I’m not sitting here king shit of effluent mountain, I’m saying if someone’s got four kids to try to figure out how to serve them one serving of cruciferous vegetable a day in the middle of a food desert, if a cop smashes your fucking patella with a baton, how are you gonna explain that? We have no legal protection, no land to throw potatoes in, our landmass wraps around like 40% of the fucking planets circumference so it’s not like we can just rally the masses in one spot and start fucking shit up. France? Germany? It’s easy to get enough people to make good trouble when youre put together the size of a few northern Maine counties.
We can’t fight tomorrow if we don’t eat today and it’s a hell of a lot more difficult to feed yourself for a day independently in this country. That’s what I’m saying. Some of us are trying to change that, but this gross condescension isn’t particularly useful, so don’t mind me while I forget you ever said a damn thing.
4
u/Worried_Essay8212 16h ago
Just got back from the Hands Off protest in Richmond, Virginia - there were at least four thousand protestors there. There are hundreds of protest rallies in all 50 states today, with the absolute massive national one in Washington, D. C., where they are expecting tens of thousands of citizens protesting in the National Mall.
Just to put in perspective your brushing off "the distances being too great" as a mere excuse for people not descending on the nation's capital from all across the country:
Imagine going to a protest march in the nation's capital - Washington, D.C. - and getting there via Frankfort, Germany. You fly across the Atlantic to Washington, D.C., -landing in Dulles Airport (way outside the city) - then take a metro to the National Mall and joining the protest. Then when it is over, take the metro back to Dulles Airport, and catch a flight back to Germany. That's essentially the travel equivalent for an American who lives in Seattle on the West Coast, who wants to participate in the historic massive protest in Washington, DC. today.
1
u/PuddingArsenic 16h ago
I don't expect anyone to go to the capital from the other side of the the country to protest. That's not what happens in other countries. It's much more local, state capitals for example, any city larger than 100k people should have enough population.
Either way, I saw some news articles and reddit posts about the protests today. It's good to see they are happening after all.
10
u/Old-Potential7931 23h ago
There’s plenty of reasons for why this is, but at the end of the day, it’s just a big place and things take a little time to react in general here.
10
u/btmoose 20h ago
Not only that, but something I never see mentioned is the population density of the US versus Europe. On average, the US is just under 4 times less dense than Europe. We’re very spread out, so it’s harder to pull together a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people in one area. I keep seeing a comparison to Türkiye - which, despite being a tenth of the size of the US by area, has one more city with a population over 1 million.
I think that’s really lending itself to the perception by the international crowd that Americans aren’t doing anything. A crowd of 10,000 folks in some random city isn’t going to make international headlines, but when the nearest big population center is six hours away, it’s tough to pull a crowd that actually will make headlines.
This is not a message that people should t bother to protest, by the way. Just to say- just because you aren’t seeing headlines about it doesn’t mean it’s not happening, just that it looks different.
2
u/koi-lotus-water-pond 12h ago
Yes, I had to drive 28 miles round trip to take part in a protest in my own county. Rural red MI. There were over 230 people there and a lady told me there were more before I got there. We have fewer than 30,000 people in the entire county. Some would have had to drive 40 miles round trip. Anecdotally, it seemed most around me were from the town the protest was held in. A lot of it is the logistics of how spread out we can be.
2
u/kalixanthippe 20h ago
The economy hasn't tanked enough. It's been less than 3 months and 1) not enough of the country has been affected, particularly the 70 million who voted for this, 2) the apathetic inertia of the 90 million who didn't vote hasn't been overcome, and 3) many are still in a 'wait and see' mode of thought.
Oh, and they don't care. At every level, they don't care. Have you not seen the huge outcry over the price of a Nintendo Switch vs thousands losing their jobs -which are in service to them? They don't care.
As for government officials/ elected representatives, they are like the majority of citizens... They don't care. Protests with tens of thousands won't change their minds because they don't care.
It's is more likely far-right militias will be attending in the hope of getting to physically harm or kill, knowing they will be pardoned, than for a single mind to be changed by protests.
2
u/blatantinsanity855 15h ago
It's happening, the press simply isn't covering it. I saw it today in Jacksonville Florida and it was awesome.
1
u/zdrads 14h ago
Because they don't give a shit? Can't blame them either, to be honest. People can't afford to buy a home. They can barely afford to eat. They don't even have healthcare when working a full time job. All of these things aren't bugs, they're features of the system and government wants it that way. What do you expect? Me to be upset that the system that threw me overboard is failing? Yeah, right...
1
u/MockDeath Idaho 11h ago edited 10h ago
But I do ask myself why there aren't any protest like there were during the civil rights movement or Vietnam war?
Realize it took years for those protests to gain a lot of momentum. It may seem like an eternity, but Trump's only been president for a few weeks. We're barely past the 2-month mark.
I keep seeing people shocked that the US hasn't hit the streets. Pointing to places like Iran and Ukraine is counter-examples. But it also took years for things to build steam there.
It takes time to organize. You can't expect full organization in 6 to 8 weeks
0
u/co-wurker 19h ago
I have no evidence to back up this take, but in general, people are probably more comfortable and apathetic today compared to the 60s for example, and it may actually be because we haven't hit full-blown modern fascism like Turkey has (yet).
They don't want to lose what they have and at the same time, they feel hopeless, like it won't matter anyway. We're seeing open corruption at the highest levels including the courts, so the message that laws are only for the middle class and poor is very clear and not hyperbole.
-1
u/Appelcl 19h ago
The article is from the Guardian, a very far left "news" organization. Vietnam was an extremely unpopular war, womens rights, and civil rights all had huge support because Americans believed in the cause. Most of the talking points in the article are very exaggerated and not popular with most Americans. Trust me, if Americans believed this was truly bad they would be hitting the streets everywhere. Reddit is an anonymous place you can shit post whatever you want.
7
u/InterestingComputer 21h ago
Wild this is the only media to cover I’ve seen. Us networks and publications completely oblivious
5
6
u/Worried_Essay8212 15h ago
Right now, go look at the Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, NBC News, etc., etc. All of them are covering the massive turnout today all across the country.
I just got back from the relatively small rally in Richmond, VA - 4,000+ protesters - and I can only say the energy and intelligence and pent-up passion was hugely cathartic! Just being part of a 4,000 strong VOICE yelling Hands Off!! was transformative, uplifting and in the end, gave us all tremendous hope that we are not alone, but united.
We are rising. I feel sorry for anyone that sat this out today.
2
5
u/SilentProtagonist_33 23h ago
Prepare for the tear gas
16
u/TintedApostle 23h ago
Prepare for US media to focus on any single event. Also prepare to find out some violence is caused by right wing groups pretending to be protesting.
1
3
u/Thumbkeeper I voted 21h ago
Maybe vote too
1
u/platinum_jimjam 19h ago
They won’t cus Kamala bad
1
u/Thumbkeeper I voted 14h ago
Her laugh! So unpresidential. Also she wasn’t deferential enough to antisemitic terrorist armies. The Guardian frowns on Jews living in peace.
2
u/LaeliaCatt 23h ago
"perceived attacks" on our economy, government, and rights. Just a matter of perception I guess.
1
1
1
1
u/super-gando 19h ago
Well, you have to put everything down ... NOT work ... nothing goes no train bus etc .. only then does something change ..
1
u/milan711 18h ago
He’s causing irreparable damage. I really hope American people realise all this and find democratic ways of remedy.
1
u/Celeryface 16h ago
Their 401k are down so they come out in droves 😂
2
u/Worried_Essay8212 15h ago
The 1200+ rallies across the country, plus the massive rally on the National Mall, has taken weeks of planning and requesting permits, arranging speakers, and plain old getting the word out. Most definitely not spur of the moment. This was way-y-yy before Trump's tariffs tanking of the stock market a mere 2 days ago.
2
u/bonafidehooligan 16h ago
Saw a really nice turn out on a major road in my mid size town. Probably 300-400 people.
1
1
u/Acceptable_Twist_565 13h ago
Defence industry struggles to sell the F-47 as NATO allies reply with, "F 47!"
Small business owners struggle with declining heroin sales after Trump's 47% tariff on Fentanyl.
Everyday American millionaires breath sigh of relief when they realize there's no tariff on Russian caviar.
231% increase in American manufacture of Onion headlines.
1
u/LycheePrevious7777 8h ago
Defunding EVERYTHING,or trying to for that matter that helps and support human life,this was predicted.Next tread.
1
0
-1
u/allbeachykeen 13h ago
Protests aren’t going to change a thing… unfortunately this is the state of things
1
-4
u/Veritable_Vox 21h ago
I halfway expect Trump to start calling protestors terrorists and sending the military to deal with them. Which sounds insane and is completely illegal but that's where we are right now.
Also don't protest out in the street. I've seen more than a few people on conservative social media claim they'll run over people blocking the road. Probably get away with it too. Stay safe everyone.
7
u/vriska1 19h ago
Comments like this push the narrative that protesting is pointless when it's not.
1
u/Count_JohnnyJ 15h ago
How did you get that from what they said? They are clearly anti-Trump, predicting that Trump is so awful that he will once again resort to violence against peaceful protesters. Then they provided a warning about staying safe while protesting.
-1
u/BengalsGonnaBungle 17h ago
Maybe now people will understand that pro-Palestine protests never stopped, the media is just complicit and won't cover the truth.
-7
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click here to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.