The second “No Kings” day of the year brought millions into the streets across the country on Saturday, a protest movement that felt more block party than brawl: marching bands, massive “We the People” banners, and a whimsical surge of inflatable frogs that’s fast becoming the movement’s signature mascot.
From New York to Philadelphia to Chicago to Los Angeles to Minneapolis to San Diego, organizers framed the day as a constitutional reminder and a pushback against what they describe as an increasingly assertive executive branch amid a prolonged government shutdown. In San Francisco, demonstrators went as far as forming a human billboard that clearly represented their feelings. Watch below:
Republican leaders were notably muted. Outside of familiar swipes from Donald Trump, brief comments from JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, and a Fox News segment casting suspicion on some New York contingents, the party essentially let the day pass without full-throated counter-programming. That restraint contrasted with last week’s preview, when several GOP figures labeled the coming events “Hate America” rallies and lumped attendees together as communists, antifa, and Marxists.
Trump, for his part, rejected the “would-be monarch” framing in a Friday interview, insisting, “I’m not a king,” even as a campaign account posted a cheeky AI-styled clip of the president in royal regalia waving from a balcony. At a midweek White House event, he predicted meager turnout, then departed for Mar-a-Lago.
Vance spent the day in California alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a Marine Corps amphibious demonstration tied to the service’s 250th birthday. Plans to fire live rounds over a nearby highway triggered a dust-up with Governor Gavin Newsom, who said the California Highway Patrol had to close a stretch of interstate for safety. “The President is putting his ego over responsibility,” Newsom said, calling the overpass volleys dangerous.
Online, Vance aimed at New York City politics, invoking a meeting between Democratic mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani and imam Siraj Wahhaj, who appeared on a list of unindicted co-conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing trial. “I’ve been reliably informed that Democrats are opposed to any kind of political violence,” Vance posted, urging blanket condemnation.
Fox News, meanwhile, alleged that groups aligned with a “global intifada” effort and organizations branded “Labor for Palestine” folded into New York’s marches, and resurfaced familiar claims about George Soros–linked funding flowing to Indivisible through a multimillion-dollar grant.
Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis and More Stars Speak Up
If Republican messaging dialed down, celebrity support dialed up. Spike Lee urged followers to “get up, stand up.” Jamie Lee Curtis posted scenes from the marches with a “Democracy in ACTION!” cheer. Ben Stiller amplified a sign that read “No Kings” with a wink to Knicks star Jalen Brunson. Mark Ruffalo rallied fans midweek: “WE the People – WE have the power,” encouraging attendance at more than 2,500 events nationwide and calling courage “contagious.”
In Los Angeles, Writers Guild of America West president Michele Mulroney took the mic to connect the protests to speech and press freedoms. “The freedom to express ourselves is… under attack by this administration,” she said, pointing to late-night programming disruptions and consolidation across media gatekeepers. “We will speak our minds, write our truths, tell our stories, and fight like hell for free speech and an independent media.”
Saturday’s marches mark the third mass mobilization since Trump returned to the White House, and the tone felt deliberate: fewer counter-chants, more pageantry. Organizers framed the convivial mood as the point—rejecting the “Hate America” label while warning that separation of powers is being stress-tested.
For one afternoon at least, the loudest message came not from the Capitol or cable hits, but from brass bands, homemade signs, and a sea of inflatable frogs ribbiting a simple refrain: in a republic, there are no kings.
REELated:
Political cartoons revive biting commentary in age of chaos
