Something truly extraordinary happened on Saturday.

All across the country, everyday Americans joined together in an unprecedented day
of action to oppose the Trump regime. Large numbers of people turned out in
every state, in big cities and small towns, in urban centers and rural areas to
reject Trump, Musk, autocracy, and oligarchy.

When it was all said and done, over a million people had participated in some
1,300 Hands Off! rallies in all 50 states — from New York to Seattle and from Tupelo,
Mississippi to Mitchell, South Dakota — in Washington, D.C., and even in other
countries (including Canada, Portugal, Germany, and Greece).

In D.C. — where Public Citizen is headquartered — we had over 100,000 people
gathered at the Washington Monument. (For those who don’t live in D.C., the
monument is just across a broad, busy street from the grounds of the White
House. The name of that street, fittingly, is Constitution Avenue.)

I had the privilege to address that beautiful crowd on Saturday:

“We are living under the most lawless, Constitution-trampling administration in
American history. ... There is only one thing that’s enough to face down this
authoritarian moment, and that is this movement here today!”

Watch my full remarks at the rally in Washington, D.C.
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People sometimes wonder if demonstrations and protests make a difference. They
make all the difference. Here’s why:

* Trump, like other authoritarians, aims to invoke fear and isolate people.
When we come together in large numbers, we overcome our fear, find our
courage, and feel viscerally that we are a majority.

* Trump and his henchmen have very intentionally tried to create an air of
invincibility around their actions, to project dominance and cultivate
hopelessness. When we’re together in large numbers, we discover hope, feel
our power, and build real power.

* If you’ve been frustrated with how Democratic leaders have (or have not) been
responding to the Trump bulldozer, nothing is more important than these
demonstrations, which will stiffen Democrats’ spines.

* More generally, the entire political conversation around Trump will never be
the same. We’ve started to take back control of the political narrative.

* The massive Hands Off! demonstrations will inspire more and more Americans to join the movement
against Trump. And that — experience around the world has taught us — is how
you beat authoritarianism.

Public Citizen is very proud to have served as one of the leading groups that
organized this incredible nationwide day of action.

And we are not about to stop there.

We have filed numerous lawsuits against the Trump/Musk/DOGE/MAGA onslaught. Stay
tuned for ongoing updates (sometimes the legal system moves slowly, sometimes it
moves very suddenly).

Another nationwide day of action is in the works for May 1 (May Day). We’ll let
you know more about this and other mobilizations in the weeks ahead.

We appreciate anything you can chip in if a donation is right for you. (If
donating is not a good fit right now, we get it.)
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Thank you for being part of this shared project called Public Citizen and the
work we’re doing together to stand up to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, the
billionaire class, and their MAGA puppets in politics.

For progress,

- Robert Weissman, Co-President of Public Citizen


Public Citizen | 1600 20th Street NW | Washington DC 20009 | Unsubscribe
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