More than 2,500 No Kings protests against the Trump administration kicked off across the United States (and in several European capitals) on Saturday, with millions of people expected to march at rallies attended by politicians, celebrities, media figures and other speakers.
Attendees in Washington, D.C., were joined by a host of speakers including journalist Mehdi Hasan and Bill Nye, both of whom issued warnings against fascism in the United States — and also moments of hope. As Hasan put it, “I have faith that America can defeat this fascist threat, this authoritarian mania, this mega cult and save our freedoms.”
Earlier in his speech, Hasan extended an olive branch to members of the Republican Party who may feel disillusioned with the current administration. “And you know, they say we don’t reach out to the other side, we don’t reach out to conservatives or Republicans, that we’re in an echo chamber,” he said. “Well, let me say to every Republican and conservative watching, aren’t you the ones who said no more big government, no tyranny in America? So if you believe that, what are you doing defending masked federal agents in unmarked cars, bundling people off of the streets, including American citizens, and disappearing them? How are you okay with that? And if you’re not okay with it, then come over to our side.”
Hasan clarified that “our side” is “the small-d Democrats, not the big D Democrats, not the Democratic Party, those of us who are from all parties and none, but those of us who care about saving America so that we can get to our 250th birthday and still be free when we reach 250 years.”
“Come over to our side. The side of no crowns, no thrones, no kings. The side of freedom, of liberty, of the Constitution, the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, the Twenty-Second Amendment, which says two terms means two terms,” he added.
Nye, who remains best known for his popular science TV series “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” also spoke in the nation’s capital.
In a rousing speech, Nye evoked the very history that birthed the United States. “Our government is based on ideas embodied in a constitution among other remarkable features that guarantees our freedom to speak as we’re doing here today,” Nye said. “Rather than doing one monarch’s bidding, we have agreed to form a democracy, to work together, and to follow the laws that derive from it. No thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
Nye returned to that history later in his deliverance. “In 1776, our ancestors had had enough. They declared independence from a king by means of a document stored safely right over there on Constitution Avenue in the National Archives. Although it was conceived 249 years ago, the Declaration of Independence describes a train of abuses connected with an absolute authority, a king with absolute power. No thrones. No crowns. No kings,” he said.
“Their king had refused to honor the law. Their king had refused to let lawmakers be elected. The king had made court judges dependent on his will. They cited the king sending quote swarms of officers to harass our people. Their language referred to quote cruelty and faithlessness scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous of ages. Their king was trying to quote render the military independent and superior to civil power. Our founders even censured King George for cutting off trade with all parts of the world. Did these actions sound familiar?”
Sanders also referenced the history of the United States while issuing warnings against “a president who claims that peaceful protests in Portland, Oregon, or Chicago, Illinois is an insurrection and calls in the U.S. military” and “who soothes and intimidates the media, who wants no criticism of him and his policies, and who undermines the First Amendment of our Constitution, the very foundation of American democracy.”
Sanders later lashed out against Trump allies Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg “and the other multi-billionaires who were sitting right behind Trump when he was inaugurated.”
“Yes, I am talking about the insanity of one person, Mr. Musk, owning more wealth than the bottom 52% of American households. I am talking about the incredible injustice of the top 1% in America, now owning more wealth than the bottom 93%,” Sanders said. “I am talking about the richest people in America becoming much, much richer, while 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, struggling every day to pay their rented mortgages, pay for childcare and education, pay for their healthcare, and pay for their health care.”
