Over five million people took part in “No Kings” demonstrations in more than 2,100 cities and towns across the country, officials estimated, with an additional 300 “Kick Out the Clowns” rallies of a similar anti-Trump nature across the US.
The huge outpouring of disdain for the current administration dwarfed US President Donald Trump’s birthday party in Washington, on which he spent more than $45 million in taxpayer funds.
Protests were held in all 50 US states, with organizers heralding them as the largest of their kind since Trump returned to office in January, with the aim of “rejecting authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy,” organizers told AFP.
More than one million protesters descended on Boston Common for a combined No Kings and gay pride event, in the New England hub that gave birth to the American Revolution against King George III of England, which began 250 years ago in Massachusetts.
More than 100,000 people attended the Philadelphia “No Kings” rally, with crowds in Chicago reaching 75,000. Smaller towns such as Pentland, Michigan, reported 400 in a town of
In Stowe, Vermont, US Senator Bernie Sanders spoke to a crowd of hundreds in the small ski resort town.
At least 60,000 turned out in San Diego, California.
Atlanta’s 5,000-capacity event quickly reached its limit, with thousands more gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol, CBS News reported.
The New York Post reported that more than 50,000 people showed up in Trump’s hometown of New York City.
Meanwhile, about 200,000 people attended Trump’s military parade that coincided both with the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army and his own 79th birthday.
Trump hailed the United States as the “hottest country in the world” after watching military equipment file past him in Washington on Saturday. He stood and saluted on a stage outside the White House as tanks rumbled past, aircraft roared overhead and nearly 7,000 troops marched by.