No Kings literally scared the shit out of Donald Trump!

We knew Republicans were afraid. But their reaction to No Kings, and the fact that Trump didn't use the military or invoke the Insurrection Act as some feared, shows the power of mass protest.

No Kings on October 18th was a glorious event, a massive, peaceful demonstration, seven million strong, across the United States. From big cities to the smallest towns and villages, people spoke out against Donald Trump’s authoritarian actions, from his putting troops in streets to his rounding up of immigrants by masked thugs.

Marchers also connected with one another, feeling empowered and ready to go home and do the hard work in elections to beat the Republican Party and its enablers. That is what the GOP is horrified about: unity and resolve.

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For days before, Republicans tried to demonize the event, saying it was going to be “Antifa” or “paid protesters” or “violent extremists,” a huge “hate America” rally. This only brought more attention to No Kings, and it also showed how afraid the Trump administration and the GOP were of millions of people coming out in force during a government shutdown the GOP created, just as Obamacare premiums are about to explode while the GOP refuses to extend tax credits.

The GOP has only brought enormous attention to No Kings protests

There was no violence at the overwhelmingly peaceful national events at which millions carried American flags. I even watched a group singing the national anthem marching hand-in-hand down 7th Avenue in Manhattan. Hardly a “hate America” rally.

The way the GOP has responded after the fact has been to point to the isolated depictions of Donald Trump being hung in effigy or something similar—the kind of imagery that dominated Tea Party rallies aimed at President Obama as well as the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6th, aimed at Mike Pence (and which turned horribly violent).

This is all in vain. Americans saw the protests in the mass media, and what they saw were many people in colorful animal costumes amid many other patriotic Americans creatively—and non-violently—expressing their desire to save the country from a dictator and his oligarch friends.

There was some fear among progressives in the days prior that Republicans were trying to signal to their violent followers that they should disrupt the rallies. But except for some scattered counterprotests, this did not happen. There was also fear that Trump would use the military on Americans, and might even invoke the Insurrection Act. That did not happen either.

The administration did recklessly engage in an act of intimidation on the day of the protest, deciding to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Marines (which is not until next month) with a live-fire demonstration at Camp Pendleton in California—with JD Vance leading the event—which included firing over Interstate 5. Governor Gavin Newsom expressed outrage, and closed the Interstate, which the Pentagon had claimed wasn’t threatened.

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It turned out in fact that a shell prematurely detonated, damaging a California Highway Patrol vehicle and a motorcycle, both of which were part of Vance’s protective detail. Shrapnel landed on some parked cars as well, damaging them.

That action was no doubt meant to send a message to No Kings. But it was pretty lame and adolescent—and dangerous to everyone, including those in MAGA itself who happen to be Californians. Yes, we know you have weapons—we pay for them—but we’re not going to be scared by your showing them off. And even your own supporters don’t want shells and shrapnel putting their lives in danger and damaging their property—so it’s not clear who you’re spiting.

Trump’s response was even more juvenile—and showed how much the protests had gotten to him. He shared an AI video of himself in a crown, piloting a bomber over the protests, looking like he’s sitting on the, um, throne—and then dumping shit all over the protesters. Some in the media idiotically called it “brown liquid” or “sludge,” but we know what it was. And it was another promotion of violence—dropping anything onto people from a plane is violent for sure—and our media once again has normalized it, even minimized it.

But if these actions are all Trump believes he can muster in the face of mass protest, then No Kings was a phenomenal success. Millions of people are too much to contain, and any violent action using the military or other authoritarian actions would have blown up in his face.

No Kings shows us the power of collective action. It brought me back to June in Hungary, when Victor Orban had banned an LGBTQ Pride march and threatened any marchers with arrest. Over 100,000 people turned out in Budapest, and there were no arrests. It was simply too big for Orban to do anything.

That is not to say by any stretch that Trump will not do anything violent; he already has. But peaceful mass protest is a real weapon against him, especially as his numbers are tanking. In Hungary, Orban has seen his popularity plummet from a time when it was very high. He and his party are in danger of losing upcoming elections. They are very wary of turning public opinion against them further.

Trump knows the majority of Americans are opposed to him as his numbers are weak, unlike in other regimes where dictators took power quickly because they had enormous approval early on. When million show up in force, it carries a message to many more—just as Trump and Republicans are trying to prevent losses in the mid-terms—and that sends a jolt of fear through Trump and the GOP.