They tried to preempt the protest with caricature because they feared what it might actually reveal: not chaos, but coherence. Not violence, but vitality. No Kings didn’t just defy the narrative. It exposed the fear behind it.
Authoritarians rely on the illusion of consensus. They need the public to believe resistance is fringe, fractured, or futile. But when millions show up: joyful, angry, organized, unafraid; that illusion cracks.
No Kings didn’t end the threat. But it made the lie harder to sell. And that, in itself, is power.
Thank you for writing this as the Republican Party. I for one would like to see "MAGA" go away in reporting. This implies the extreme wing and I think it's pretty clear that the entire party is complicit.
“Whether you think this is evidence of rapidly advancing dementia or just a new expression of the same vulgar and juvenile impulses Trump has always had”
The answer is both. The type of dementia many experts believe he has - FTD - is characterized by a lack inhibitions. So it lets him act on his juvenile impulses.
“No Kings” is not an end point, it is the very beginning. More protests, strikes, and boycotts will follow…must follow. And a bruising midterm election that convinces elected Republicans to reconsider their loyalty and their oath.
Reposting my thoughts here about the total numbers of No Kings participants: The 7 million only takes into consideration the people who hit the streets. Meidas had some numbers on those who tuned in live who may not have been able to attend because of work, childcare, illness, or other obligation. No mention of the many who contributed time, money or other contributions to the No Kings rally. Seven million is an under count and those numbers should be gathered an incorporated into the members presented. It's like saying 80,000 went to the Super Bowl and discounting the millions who were unable to attend and watched it on other platforms. Media, including crap actors like musk, zuck and tim apple make bank on trump being crazy. And as Les Moonves of CBS said during trump 1.0, trump might be bad for America, but he's great for CBS... That's all we really need to know about corporate media.
And yet the blowback from those who still (somehow??) believe in the felon president was enormous on social media. I had to beg off one group I used to follow after realizing how many right wing haters belonged. 😳🙄
Some of those remarks on social media are true MAGA. Remember that the statistics show that upwards of 75% of them could be bots.
Every unpopular movement tries to magnify their popularity using the available tools. It’s to convince us that resistance is futile. Don’t believe them.
For me, the best part was discovering that I have 8.2 million friends. That is the latest crowd estimate.
All the badmouthing by the MAGA fools was not to convince "Americans" that we are terrorists. It was to reassure Trump's followers that we're extremists, terrorists, etc., and that they're the good guys. But the numbers don't lie, nor do the frog costumes, the sheer numbers, and the faces of ordinary people, people who love America.
Contrast that with the Mad King, he who posted online his fantasy of dumping shit all over his fellow Americans.
The rally also revealed that Republicans live only on Earth Two. The predictions, the insinuations—all addressed to solely to the Trump administration which desperately needs approval not approbation.
We didn’t believe in Jabba before and we really don’t now. Republicans’ inhumane policies are what got us into this mess. Either they change the policies or we will change them. We the People are speaking, and our voice will be heard.
They tried to preempt the protest with caricature because they feared what it might actually reveal: not chaos, but coherence. Not violence, but vitality. No Kings didn’t just defy the narrative. It exposed the fear behind it.
Authoritarians rely on the illusion of consensus. They need the public to believe resistance is fringe, fractured, or futile. But when millions show up: joyful, angry, organized, unafraid; that illusion cracks.
No Kings didn’t end the threat. But it made the lie harder to sell. And that, in itself, is power.
Thank you!
—Johan
I think they also had convinced themselves that it was going to be a dud, like Trump's military parade. MAGA is delusional; they believe Trump is god.
Thank you for writing this as the Republican Party. I for one would like to see "MAGA" go away in reporting. This implies the extreme wing and I think it's pretty clear that the entire party is complicit.
I agree. In addition, don't refer to them as conservative. There is nothing conservative about them.
“Whether you think this is evidence of rapidly advancing dementia or just a new expression of the same vulgar and juvenile impulses Trump has always had”
The answer is both. The type of dementia many experts believe he has - FTD - is characterized by a lack inhibitions. So it lets him act on his juvenile impulses.
“No Kings” is not an end point, it is the very beginning. More protests, strikes, and boycotts will follow…must follow. And a bruising midterm election that convinces elected Republicans to reconsider their loyalty and their oath.
We had Adelita Grijalva at our Tucson rally. We were screaming "Swear her in!" She vowed to be the 218th vote.
Reposting my thoughts here about the total numbers of No Kings participants: The 7 million only takes into consideration the people who hit the streets. Meidas had some numbers on those who tuned in live who may not have been able to attend because of work, childcare, illness, or other obligation. No mention of the many who contributed time, money or other contributions to the No Kings rally. Seven million is an under count and those numbers should be gathered an incorporated into the members presented. It's like saying 80,000 went to the Super Bowl and discounting the millions who were unable to attend and watched it on other platforms. Media, including crap actors like musk, zuck and tim apple make bank on trump being crazy. And as Les Moonves of CBS said during trump 1.0, trump might be bad for America, but he's great for CBS... That's all we really need to know about corporate media.
Trump heard that Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake." Trump's response was, "Let them eat shit!"
And yet the blowback from those who still (somehow??) believe in the felon president was enormous on social media. I had to beg off one group I used to follow after realizing how many right wing haters belonged. 😳🙄
Some of those remarks on social media are true MAGA. Remember that the statistics show that upwards of 75% of them could be bots.
Every unpopular movement tries to magnify their popularity using the available tools. It’s to convince us that resistance is futile. Don’t believe them.
Amazingly, after yesterday’s march(es), the halls of Congress are not smeared with shit.
Thanks for this excellent measured (as always) piece, Paul.
NO KINGS photos collected by crowdsourcing: Citizen journalism made simple with the free Padlet app
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/10/18/no-kings-photos-collected-crowdsource-citizen-journalism-made-simple/
For me, the best part was discovering that I have 8.2 million friends. That is the latest crowd estimate.
All the badmouthing by the MAGA fools was not to convince "Americans" that we are terrorists. It was to reassure Trump's followers that we're extremists, terrorists, etc., and that they're the good guys. But the numbers don't lie, nor do the frog costumes, the sheer numbers, and the faces of ordinary people, people who love America.
Contrast that with the Mad King, he who posted online his fantasy of dumping shit all over his fellow Americans.
To be fair, he can be triggered by pretty much anything. Such a snowflake.
And sadly, Republicans will ignore this day as thoroughly as they believe Portland is in flames.
The rally also revealed that Republicans live only on Earth Two. The predictions, the insinuations—all addressed to solely to the Trump administration which desperately needs approval not approbation.
We didn’t believe in Jabba before and we really don’t now. Republicans’ inhumane policies are what got us into this mess. Either they change the policies or we will change them. We the People are speaking, and our voice will be heard.