As Obama calls on citizens, colleges and law firms to resist Trump agenda, protests sweep the nation
For months now, Democrats have been eating themselves alive with an internal argument over how aggressively to criticize Trump’s destruction of the rule of law and constitutional order. Some Democrats think raising this is mostly a waste of time, and if raised, it must feature a quick pivot to prices. By this account, Democrats face a choice: Either attack Trump’s lawlessness or indict his degradation of people’s everyday material conditions. Do the former, and you’re distracting from the latter—the only real lifeblood of politics.
Barack Obama just made some remarks that are starting to get attention for their stirring indictment of Trump’s lawless abuses of power. That a former president is expressing deep alarm about the precariousness of the rule of law under one of his successors is certainly big news.
But looked at another way, Obama’s comments also offer Democrats a way out of the either-prices-or-democracy cul-de-sac that has flummoxed the party. What they underscore is this: Trump’s destruction of the rule of law and his imminent wreckage of the economy are actually the same story. [Continue reading…]
They came out in defense of national parks and small businesses, public education and health care for veterans, abortion rights and fair elections. They marched against tariffs and oligarchs, dark money and fascism, the deportation of legal immigrants and the Department of Government Efficiency.
Demonstrators had no shortage of causes as they gathered in towns and cities across the country on Saturday to protest President Trump’s agenda. Rallies were planned in all 50 states, and images posted on social media showed dense crowds in places as diverse as St. Augustine, Fla.; Salt Lake City and rainy Frankfort, Ky.
“Pouring rain, 43 degrees, biting wind, and people are still here in Albany in the thousands,” said Ron Marz, a comic book writer who posted a photo of the crowd at the New York State Capitol on X.
While crowd sizes are difficult to estimate, organizers said that more than 600,000 people had signed up to participate and that events also took place in U.S. territories and a dozen locations across the globe.
On Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the protest stretched for nearly 20 blocks. In Chicago, thousands flooded Daley Plaza and adjacent streets, while, in the nation’s capital, tens of thousands surrounded the Washington Monument. In Atlanta, the police estimated the crowd marching to the gold-domed statehouse at over 20,000.
Mr. Trump, who was playing golf in Florida on Saturday, appeared to be largely ignoring the protests. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [Continue reading…]
Massive #HandsOff rallies across the country 🔥🔥🔥
— Democrats (@democrats.org) April 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Spectacular view of 100,000 people attending the #HandsOff march in NYC
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran.com) April 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM