I tried to ignore the "No Kings" nonsense this weekend. Honestly, I did. Lately, I've spent so much time researching and covering what people in countries like Venezuela and Cuba live through each day that seeing our own citizens protest some imaginary "tyranny" when their lives are filled with freedoms much of the world can only dream about just feels frivolous and self-indulgent.
Everyone who is out chanting about no kings and tyrants today, should be forced to go actually live under one in #Venezuela #Nicaragua or #Cuba and see what happens when they protest there. This is Nobel Peace Prize winner @MariaCorinaYA who has bravely done just that. https://t.co/7za7HjblHC
— SarahDownSouth (@SarahDownSouth) October 18, 2025
Admittedly, on Saturday, someone told me that "about 100 to 200 people" had gathered near where I live, so I drove by around 1:00, but apparently it had ended at noon. I guess "No Kings" is cool until it disrupts your Saturday afternoon plans. But I didn't look into it any further — I just grabbed some lunch while I was in town and came back to write about other more important things.
A few friends and relatives posted on social media about their experiences at the protests. The only thing I managed to learn from them is that they were there to, well, protest. They never actually said what, aside from one mentioning how Trump is a "puppet" of the Heritage Foundation. If you believe Trump is any one person or group's puppet, you're either not paying attention, or I've got some beachfront property in Atlanta I'd like to sell you.
That's the sentiment I got from some colleagues' experiences as well. Pictures, videos, and information that some of them collected behind the scenes only proved that a lot of the people protesting didn't really know what they were protesting. There was the "Trump bad" crowd, the "Free Palestine" crowd, and the "women don't have rights because abortion" crowd. I mean, you name some left-wing talking point, and it was there. I saw Democrats like Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) screaming about how "this is what democracy looks like." (Um, didn't they just say Trump was taking away all of their democracy? Do they even hear themselves?)
These big-name Democrats treated the weekend like a major win for their party, but even NBC admits that it wasn't quite that at all. And you know when NBC is 'fessing up, things must be bad.
Apparently, an NBC News reporter conducted some interviews at the Washington, D.C., protests on Saturday, and what the outlet learned is that this totally not organized and paid for "grassroots" movement was not about supporting the Democrat Party at all. In fact, many of the protesters they spoke to don't like Democrats any better than they like Republicans.
For example, a construction worker from Virginia told the outlet, "I don’t have a lot of faith in the Democrats right now. 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***." He added, "It pains me to say it, but Trump’s goons are f*****g organized compared to the Dems right now."
A D.C. resident told NBC that the Democrats aren't tough enough: "We’re just taking it on the chin, and we’re not speaking out. You know, I think we need to throw some more elbows. Unfortunately, the high road doesn’t work."
Another D.C. resident told the outlet that the party left her feeling "disappointed" and "underwhelmed," while another guy said, "By and large, the Democratic Party is also bought by corporate interests, and they fail to stand up for the average working people." He also expressed his disappointment in party leaders for refusing to endorse Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City.
In other words, the left ain't far enough to the left for some of these people.
One woman, a former USAID employee who lost her job earlier this year, thinks Democrats are too worried about elections and not worried enough about the issues. "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," she said. "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."
Not only does this show that the Democrat Party is in disarray, but I think it also tells a different tale. Despite the fact that we know this is a not a grassroots protest — it's paid for and organized by much higher powers — there was no real unity here. There was no single issue or message. It was like an airing of left-wing grab-bag grievances rather than an actual movement. It's not just the party of the left that's in trouble, it's their entire worldview that's growing more desperate by the moment. Even NBC can't deny it. I suppose that's why many on the left are resorting to violence these days. It's all they've got.
