Outside of typical remarks from Donald Trump, JD Vance and Mike Johnson and a Fox News report, party stayed mum
Outside of typical remarks from Donald Trump, JD Vance and Mike Johnson and a Fox News report, party stayed mum
Republican voices were mostly silent as No Kings rallies and marches against Trump administration policies unfurled on Saturday, many in the spirit of a street party that countered the “hate America” depiction advanced by senior members of the party.
Instead of provocation, there were marching bands, huge banners with “we the people” references to the US constitution, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance.
In comments Friday, Donald Trump opposed the protest organizers’ characterization of him as a would-be monarch.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview.
At a White House event on Wednesday, Trump tried to downplay the No Kings events. “I hear very few people [are] going to be there, by the way, but they have their day coming up and they want to have their day in the sun,” he said. Trump is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
In a counter-programming move, JD Vance and defense secretary Pete Hegseth were attending a live-fire amphibious capabilities demonstration at Camp Pendleton in California to commemorate the US Marine Corps’ 250th birthday.
