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About those 7 million Americans hit the streets Saturday for the No Kings protests.
Let that number sink in for a second. Seven. Million. People. The largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history, surpassing even June’s impressive showing by 2 million bodies. Over 2,700 events across all 50 states. From Manhattan to Macon, Georgia. From Ocean Beach to Ocean County. From people in unicorn onesies to inflatable pig costumes holding signs saying “these fascist pigs give the rest of us a bad name.” And what did Mike Johnson call it? A “hate America rally.” Time to log on.
Nothing says “hating America” quite like defending the Constitution and exercising your First Amendment rights. It is WILD to try to paint the story of millions of Americans saying “we don’t want a king” as anti-American. That’s quite literally what America was built on (see: Revolutionary War) The Founding Fathers would be so embarrassed…
Johnson didn’t stop there though. He went on to call protesters “pro-Hamas…and antifa people” on Fox, because in the MAGA universe, concerned citizens are…terrorists (???) White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson’s official response when asked about millions of Americans protesting? “Who cares?” Trump responded with an AI video of him dropping feces on America… the country he accuses us of hating.
At the state level, Republican governors Glenn Youngkin and Greg Abbott used these peaceful protests as an opportunity to justify mobilizing their state National Guards. What a waste of state resources. Nothing screams “land of the free” quite like deploying military force against grandmas with clever signs. Police New York and D.C. (the biggest marches by far) reported zero protest-related arrests. But keep clutching those pearls, guys.
Why This Could Actually Matter
Here’s the thing about Saturday that should terrify Trump and his sycophants: this wasn’t just coastal elites in blue bubbles. This was everywhere. Small towns. Red states. Rural communities. The resistance isn’t just resisting anymore; it’s organizing at a scale that makes the administration’s “fringe radicals” narrative look as ridiculous as we always knew it was.
The turnout grew by 40% from June. Despite threats of National Guard crackdowns. Despite the ongoing government shutdown chaos. Despite Republicans trying to paint protesters as un-American. People showed up in greater numbers than ever before. And they showed up for reasons that should alarm anyone paying attention:
Trump’s authoritarian power grabs
The assault on First Amendment rights
The military crackdown on Democratic-led cities
Immigration enforcement tactics never before seen in the U.S.
The systematic dismantling of federal programs
The general trajectory of us watching a democracy hurdle towards autocracy
Saturday proved there’s a massive, mobilized, and growing movement that refuses to normalize any of this. That’s huge. That’s historic. That’s the kind of sustained energy that could change the roadmap of this nightmare.
But Here’s the Hard Part
(You knew there was a “but” coming)
Protests alone don’t save democracies.
Showing up is necessary. Absolutely. The visibility matters. The solidarity matters. Making it clear that this administration governs without consent matters. But if Saturday’s energy dissipates into nothing more than brunch conversations and Instagram stories, then we’ve accomplished exactly what the GOP wants: we’ve let off steam without changing a damn thing. For example, the March on Washington in 1963 didn’t end with the march. It fueled legislative battles, voter registration drives, and sustained organizing that led to the Civil Rights Act. The suffragettes didn’t just march; they lobbied, organized, ran candidates, and fought for decades.
This has to be the beginning, not the climax.
So here’s where we are: 7 million people just sent an unmistakable message that Trump’s authoritarian playbook isn’t going to slide by unopposed. That’s the good news. The question is whether those 7 million people are ready to do the unglamorous, exhausting, absolutely critical work that comes next. Because the GOP sure as hell isn’t going to suddenly find their spines because people held signs. They’re going to keep confirming loyalist judges. They’re going to keep abusing executive power, abusing innocents, and enriching themselves off our struggles until someone stops them.
And “someone” means us. It means sustained pressure on representatives and showing up to local meetings and registering voters in swing districts and primarying spineless candidates and, most importantly, turning this energy into electoral consequences in 2026 and beyond.
The moment of reckoning is here: are we a movement or just a moment?
Turn Your Anger Into Action
If Saturday fired you up and you’re ready to do more than just show up for the next photo op, then get organized. The groups behind No Kings (including Indivisible) aren’t stopping at protests. They’re building the infrastructure to turn mass mobilization into political power.
Sign up for the Indivisible follow-up organizing call and figure out how to channel Saturday’s energy into sustained action. Find your local chapter. Learn how to pressure your representatives effectively. Connect with people in your community who are ready to do the work.
Because seven million people in the streets is powerful. Seven million people organized into a sustained political force is how you actually defend democracy.
The choice is yours: Are we going to look back at Saturday as the moment everything changed, or the moment we could have changed everything but settled for feeling good instead?
No kings. No tyrants. No excuses.
Tell us what your post-No Kings action plan is. How are you carrying forth the momentum towards freedom?
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