Democrat No Kings protesters unhappy with Democrats
Page 1 of 1 [ 4 posts ]
ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Posts: 39,637
Location: Long Island, New York
19 Oct 2025, 5:18 am
Quote:
Thousands gathered in the nation’s capital on Saturday, rallying and repeating one refrain: “No kings.”
They joined thousands of other gatherings around the country organized by Democratic groups and activists to protest President Donald Trump and his administration with a second round of “No Kings” rallies following an initial nationwide day of protest in June.
While many protesters spoke to NBC News about their dissatisfaction with Trump, a plethora of left-leaning and liberal protesters also made one more thing clear: They’re not happy with their Democratic leaders, either.
“I don’t have a lot of faith in the Democrats right now,” Alex, a construction worker who traveled to Washington from northern Virginia on Saturday and declined to provide his last name, told NBC News. “They don’t have — they don’t seem to have a lot of spine or a single message. They’re just too disorganized to put up a good fight against this bulls---.”
“It pains me to say it, but Trump’s goons are f-----g organized compared to the Dems right now,” he added.
Clark Furey, 40, who lives in Washington, called on elected Democrats to “throw some more elbows.”
“We’re just taking it on the chin, and we’re not speaking out,” he told NBC News while attending the rally with his dog, Scooby. “You know, I think we need to throw some more elbows. Unfortunately, the high road doesn’t work.”
Jenny Wang, 35, who lives in Washington and attended the rally, used two words to describe how she feels about the Democratic Party at the moment: “disappointed” and “underwhelmed.”
Many of these rank-and-file Democrats aren’t alone.
Since Democrats lost the White House and the Senate in 2024 and failed to flip the House, approval ratings of the party have dipped to their lowest levels in decades.
Scott, 45, who lives in Washington and attended Saturday’s rally but didn’t want to share his last name, said he felt that Democrats were almost as bad as Republicans.
“By and large, the Democratic Party is also bought by corporate interests, and they fail to stand up for the average working people,” he told NBC News.
He pointed to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and their ongoing hesitance to endorse New York City’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Scott also pointed to Schumer’s decision to support Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, 77, for Senate over military veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner in the primary there.
“You can see it in their lack of interest in the leadership endorsing Mamdani in New York City. You can see it with them trying to get an almost octogenarian [in the] race in Maine to undercut progressives,” he said.
Amanda Nataro, 41, who lives in Washington and lost her government job earlier this year when the Trump administration made deep cuts to USAID, said she perceived Democrats to be too scared about losing their elections to stand up to Republicans.
Democrats pushed back against the Trump administration’s attempts to slash funding for USAID, which Congress appropriated last year, before the Supreme Court in September allowed the Trump administration to go through with $4 billion worth of cuts.
“I think all of them should be at home in their states at these No Kings protests letting people know that they stand with democracy. I think a lot of them are worried about holding on to their seats in purple states and their seats being flipped, and they’re missing an opportunity right here to show what democracy looks like, to speak out,” Nataro told NBC News at the rally. “I think they showed a little bit of backbone with the shutdown. But we could have done this in March. We let this go on for way too long before taking a stand.”
Many elected Democrats did attend No Kings protests on Saturday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., spoke to rallygoers in Boston. Schumer joined protesters in New York. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker spoke to demonstrators in Chicago. Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey, addressed people attending a No Kings protest alongside Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin in Montclair, New Jersey.
Despite their anger at Democrats, many demonstrators in Washington joined Nataro in acknowledging that the elected leaders within their own party have taken recent steps to fight back.
Many praised Democrats in Congress for their opposition to a Republican-backed stopgap funding measure that would have kept the government open.
The federal government has now been shuttered for more than two weeks, with Democrats saying they’ll vote alongside Republicans to fund it if GOP leaders agree to extend health care subsidies in the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of this year.
“I’m happy that they’re kind of holding their ground finally,” Lydia, 44, who traveled to the rally from Springfield, Virginia, with her daughters, told NBC News.
“I know the shutdown sucks, especially, like, my brother is not working right now. But, I mean, it’s very effective,” Lydia, who didn’t share her last name with NBC News, added. “It’s a very important thing. I know I can’t afford higher health care [costs] and I don’t make a small amount of money.”
Laurel Beedon, 79, who lives in northern Virginia and attended the rally with a friend, acknowledged that Democrats in Congress can’t take a lot of action while in the minority, but applauded their efforts to lower health care costs.
“They’re doing what they can against a unthinking, enabling Republican majority,” she said. “I do applaud them around health care.”
Many rallygoers also saw another glimmer of hope for Democrats in a new generation of leaders and activists.
They joined thousands of other gatherings around the country organized by Democratic groups and activists to protest President Donald Trump and his administration with a second round of “No Kings” rallies following an initial nationwide day of protest in June.
While many protesters spoke to NBC News about their dissatisfaction with Trump, a plethora of left-leaning and liberal protesters also made one more thing clear: They’re not happy with their Democratic leaders, either.
“I don’t have a lot of faith in the Democrats right now,” Alex, a construction worker who traveled to Washington from northern Virginia on Saturday and declined to provide his last name, told NBC News. “They don’t have — they don’t seem to have a lot of spine or a single message. They’re just too disorganized to put up a good fight against this bulls---.”
“It pains me to say it, but Trump’s goons are f-----g organized compared to the Dems right now,” he added.
Clark Furey, 40, who lives in Washington, called on elected Democrats to “throw some more elbows.”
“We’re just taking it on the chin, and we’re not speaking out,” he told NBC News while attending the rally with his dog, Scooby. “You know, I think we need to throw some more elbows. Unfortunately, the high road doesn’t work.”
Jenny Wang, 35, who lives in Washington and attended the rally, used two words to describe how she feels about the Democratic Party at the moment: “disappointed” and “underwhelmed.”
Many of these rank-and-file Democrats aren’t alone.
Since Democrats lost the White House and the Senate in 2024 and failed to flip the House, approval ratings of the party have dipped to their lowest levels in decades.
Scott, 45, who lives in Washington and attended Saturday’s rally but didn’t want to share his last name, said he felt that Democrats were almost as bad as Republicans.
“By and large, the Democratic Party is also bought by corporate interests, and they fail to stand up for the average working people,” he told NBC News.
He pointed to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and their ongoing hesitance to endorse New York City’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Scott also pointed to Schumer’s decision to support Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, 77, for Senate over military veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner in the primary there.
“You can see it in their lack of interest in the leadership endorsing Mamdani in New York City. You can see it with them trying to get an almost octogenarian [in the] race in Maine to undercut progressives,” he said.
Amanda Nataro, 41, who lives in Washington and lost her government job earlier this year when the Trump administration made deep cuts to USAID, said she perceived Democrats to be too scared about losing their elections to stand up to Republicans.
Democrats pushed back against the Trump administration’s attempts to slash funding for USAID, which Congress appropriated last year, before the Supreme Court in September allowed the Trump administration to go through with $4 billion worth of cuts.
“I think all of them should be at home in their states at these No Kings protests letting people know that they stand with democracy. I think a lot of them are worried about holding on to their seats in purple states and their seats being flipped, and they’re missing an opportunity right here to show what democracy looks like, to speak out,” Nataro told NBC News at the rally. “I think they showed a little bit of backbone with the shutdown. But we could have done this in March. We let this go on for way too long before taking a stand.”
Many elected Democrats did attend No Kings protests on Saturday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., spoke to rallygoers in Boston. Schumer joined protesters in New York. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker spoke to demonstrators in Chicago. Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey, addressed people attending a No Kings protest alongside Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin in Montclair, New Jersey.
Despite their anger at Democrats, many demonstrators in Washington joined Nataro in acknowledging that the elected leaders within their own party have taken recent steps to fight back.
Many praised Democrats in Congress for their opposition to a Republican-backed stopgap funding measure that would have kept the government open.
The federal government has now been shuttered for more than two weeks, with Democrats saying they’ll vote alongside Republicans to fund it if GOP leaders agree to extend health care subsidies in the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of this year.
“I’m happy that they’re kind of holding their ground finally,” Lydia, 44, who traveled to the rally from Springfield, Virginia, with her daughters, told NBC News.
“I know the shutdown sucks, especially, like, my brother is not working right now. But, I mean, it’s very effective,” Lydia, who didn’t share her last name with NBC News, added. “It’s a very important thing. I know I can’t afford higher health care [costs] and I don’t make a small amount of money.”
Laurel Beedon, 79, who lives in northern Virginia and attended the rally with a friend, acknowledged that Democrats in Congress can’t take a lot of action while in the minority, but applauded their efforts to lower health care costs.
“They’re doing what they can against a unthinking, enabling Republican majority,” she said. “I do applaud them around health care.”
Many rallygoers also saw another glimmer of hope for Democrats in a new generation of leaders and activists.
That article unintentionally points out a flaw with the “Hands Off” and “No Kings” protests. It is trying to be both against specific policies and against authoritarianism. This article profiled a specific subset of voters. Nothing wrong with that, this group is going to have influence in who the Democrats nominate in various elections. The problem is for a true anti authoritarian movement you are going to need people with varied political world views who are sick and tired of zero sum game mentality, cancel culture etc. The MAGA’s are greatly lowering a bar that has already been lowered by the other side. Having an apparent grass roots movement organized by a political party hurts credibility to a degree.
Flaws aside “No Kings” represents significant progress from where left of center protests have too often been in the last decade. The participants were for the most part not people coming out of elite bubbles. There were a lot of older people and families. Unlike the “woke” protests which were based on the idea that America needs to be torn down and rebuilt because it has been evil from the get go “No Kings” is about the idea that a lot of the foundational values are good but under threat. This was shown by many American flags waved and people in patriotic garb. If I did not know this was a political protest I would have thought I was watching a 4th of July event. I looked at their website and they talked about deescalation with people “who don’t share our values”. Quite the difference from variations of “evil”.
The above is why the Republicans look so ridicules when they call “No Kings” hate marches, Antifa, and terrorism.
_________________
“Self Acceptance is a process not a performance”
“You are autistic enough. And you always have been”
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
19 Oct 2025, 12:38 pm
Not sure about Mamdani, but people in the vein of Bernie and the members of the Squad have to become the norm in the Democratic Party, rather than outliers.
Ultimately, we need a bona fide social democratic party, in the vein of Corbyn-era Labour in the UK, or the Swedish Social Democratic Party. But too many people on the right are stuck in Cold War mindsets, and still think socialism/communism is the biggest threat to the world, and would equate Harold Wilson, Willy Brandt and Olof Palme with Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot.
_________________
Who’s better at math than a robot? They’re made of math!
ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Posts: 39,637
Location: Long Island, New York
19 Oct 2025, 1:15 pm
Tim_Tex wrote:
Not sure about Mamdani, but people in the vein of Bernie and the members of the Squad have to become the norm in the Democratic Party, rather than outliers.
Ultimately, we need a bona fide social democratic party, in the vein of Corbyn-era Labour in the UK, or the Swedish Social Democratic Party. But too many people on the right are stuck in Cold War mindsets, and still think socialism/communism is the biggest threat to the world, and would equate Harold Wilson, Willy Brandt and Olof Palme with Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot.
Ultimately, we need a bona fide social democratic party, in the vein of Corbyn-era Labour in the UK, or the Swedish Social Democratic Party. But too many people on the right are stuck in Cold War mindsets, and still think socialism/communism is the biggest threat to the world, and would equate Harold Wilson, Willy Brandt and Olof Palme with Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot.
I would say that the Democratic Socialist Wing is in the process of becoming the norm but I don’t think they are there yet. While it seems likely as the traditional democrats literally die out I don’t think it is inevitable because unforeseen game changing events could well happen. Who the Democrats nominate for the midterms will tell us a lot.
I think the right is stuck in 2020 when riots, Covid mandates, woke left overreach, and general anarchy dominated more than they are stuck in the cold war. You have to be over 50 if not over 55 to have had some political awareness during the cold war.
_________________
“Self Acceptance is a process not a performance”
“You are autistic enough. And you always have been”
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
19 Oct 2025, 3:16 pm
Tim_Tex wrote:
Not sure about Mamdani, but people in the vein of Bernie and the members of the Squad have to become the norm in the Democratic Party, rather than outliers.
Ultimately, we need a bona fide social democratic party, in the vein of Corbyn-era Labour in the UK, or the Swedish Social Democratic Party. But too many people on the right are stuck in Cold War mindsets, and still think socialism/communism is the biggest threat to the world, and would equate Harold Wilson, Willy Brandt and Olof Palme with Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot.
Ultimately, we need a bona fide social democratic party, in the vein of Corbyn-era Labour in the UK, or the Swedish Social Democratic Party. But too many people on the right are stuck in Cold War mindsets, and still think socialism/communism is the biggest threat to the world, and would equate Harold Wilson, Willy Brandt and Olof Palme with Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot.
Personally, I wish people who were as liberal as JFK ran the Democrat Party.
