Democratic Activists Plan Anti-Trump, Anti-Musk Presidents Day Protests Across the Country

‘This is a decentralized movement, and the organizers are working tirelessly to keep information easily accessible for everyone. The key component remains the same: We must limit executive overreach,’ the umbrella group organizing the protests says.

AP/Jose Luis Magana
People protest during a rally against Elon Musk outside the U.S. Department of Labor. AP/Jose Luis Magana

Activists across the country are planning a day of protests on Monday to demonstrate against President Trump and Elon Musk. The group organizing the protests have hundreds of thousands of followers across various social media platforms, and they say that they are aiming to “reclaim” Presidents Day on Monday in order to send a message to the White House. 

Since Mr. Trump returned to the White House, there have not been protests anywhere near the size of the ones that sprouted up all over the country eight years ago, when he first entered the Oval Office. There was no million-person march through the nation’s capital, and Democrats are seemingly at a loss as the new Republican trifecta government prepares to enact the president’s agenda, largely unimpeded. 

Organizers for the 50501 group — meaning 50 protests, 50 states, and one movement — are trying to reclaim that sense of resistance with a nationwide protest scheduled for Monday. 

On Reddit alone, the group has more than 110,000 followers. Across all social media platforms — including Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky — the group has more than 200,000 followers. On Monday, the group will kick off their protest, which has been titled, “No Kings on President’s Day: Limit Executive Overreach.”

“This is a decentralized movement, and the organizers are working tirelessly to keep information easily accessible for everyone. The key component remains the same: We must limit executive overreach,” the group wrote on its Reddit page ahead of the Monday protests. 

“The current administration has made it clear: profits over people. We refuse to stand by while they dismantle our rights, our communities, and our future. We are not just numbers. We are not just consumers. We are the People,” the group says. “We reject fascism. We reject the oligarchy. We reject any system that places profit, power, or privilege over human dignity.”

One organizer with the group told National Public Radio that the protest isn’t just about the president, but his staff as well. Mr. Musk is very much on the minds of those who plan to take to the streets tomorrow, the organizer said. 

We are still very much calling for the removal of Elon Musk. We find it very concerning that there is a non-government official that has the access that he does,” one activist with the group, Sydney Wilson, told NPR.”And we would like to see the strengthening of anti-discrimination legislation.”

The group held their first protests on February 5 to demonstrate against the administration and Mr. Musk’s role in the executive branch, though the individual protests were paltry compared to the ones that drew tens of thousands of people in early 2017. In a statement after that protest occurred, the 50501 organizers said they were still heartened by the turnout, and that they would be back. 

“​​The #50501 protests were a decentralized rapid response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies. The idea — 50 protests in 50 states on 1 day — was born on r/50501 and spread rapidly on social media,” the group says on its website, referring to the protest’s birth on Reddit. 

“In just days, grassroots organizers — without any budget, centralized structure, or official backing — pulled off over 80 peaceful protests in all 50 states,” they write. “The protests were covered by every major media outlet, showing the world that the American working class will not sit idly by as plutocrats rip apart their democratic institutions and civil liberties while undermining the rule of law.”


The New York Sun

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