Opponents of President Trump are planning protests on Saturday in all 50 states to oppose the president’s slash and burn attacks on federal health care programs, and government workers, a message that they say appeals to a politically diverse set of Americans.
The mass action, “Hands Off!,” was organized by Indivisible, MoveOn and several other groups that led protests about abortion rights, gun violence and racial justice during the first Trump administration. But organizers said they are now working with 150 local, state and national partners to emphasize a new message: President Trump is threatening health care, Social Security and education, making life harder for the average American, while benefiting his richest friends.
“We need to bring in new people, and that’s where Trump’s policies are so consequential,” said Britt Jacovich, a spokeswoman for MoveOn.
The organizers put more thought into long-term organizing with these protests, hoping it will pay off in local races:
The framing for the Saturday march is, “Let’s talk about Trump’s economic attacks and attacks on our rights,” said Leah Greenberg, the co-founder of Indivisible. “They are not different things. They come from an anti-democratic alliance taking over and attacking fundamental parts of our democracy.”
Many of the half a million people who have signed up to participate in Saturday’s marches will attend a protest close to home, including in places where Trump has been popular. The marquee rally on the National Mall could be comparatively modest, with a turnout in the tens of thousands. Politicians, labor leaders and political organizers have replaced Hollywood stars as keynote speakers.
“You want the whole country involved in a protest, people in surprising places,” said Jason Stanley, a philosophy professor who recently quit his job at Yale and fled to the University of Toronto. He said that mass movements gain staying power when they garner support beyond protest-friendly environments like liberal cities and college campuses. “Everyone in a democracy has agency, but everyone has to feel like they have agency to use it,” he said.
You can still take part. Click on the map to find a protest near you.
