While Republicans spent days trying to downplay the protests, an estimated 7 million people in all 50 states took to the streets calling for an end to what they described as the administration's 'authoritarian' actions.
Ezra Levin, cofounder and co-executive director of the progressive nonprofit Indivisible, said on a national call this week that groups will now work to build a nationwide rapid response network, asking supporters to take new actions each week.
"No successful anti-authoritarian movement in the history of the world has relied exclusively on one-day protests," Levin pointed out. "Successful movements grow, they evolve, they diversify their tactics and they do new things together."
A just-released survey from the Public Religion Research Institute showed respondents share some of the same concerns as protesters. Asked if President Donald Trump is a "potentially dangerous dictator whose power should be limited" or a "strong leader who should be given necessary power," Americans chose the “dictator” option by 56% to 41%, a margin which has nearly doubled since April.
To mock last Saturday's marchers, Trump posted an AI-generated video on social media of himself wearing a crown while piloting a fighter jet dumping feces on protesters below. Meanwhile, the federal government is shut down and bipartisan budget talks have stalled.
Lisa Gilbert, co-executive director of the advocacy group Public Citizen, called it the "most broken budget moment in U.S. history."
"Thus far, this budget battle leverage moment is being utilized by Democrats effectively to push for negotiations and an eventual deal that returns health care to regular Americans," Gilbert observed. "At the very least, restoring the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits so millions more don't lose their care."
In addition to the 7 million people who participated in last weekend's events, 5 million attended the first "No Kings" event in June, and 3 million turned out for the "Hands Off" event last April.
