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'No Kings!' 8 Million Rally Against Trump in Largest Single-Day Protest in US History | Common Dreams
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this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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Last year many articles were saying that if the protests hit 3% of the population Trump was done. Welp it’s happened, so what does his exit look like?
Otherwise this is performative bullshit while we need hard action.
(9 million ÷ 330 million) < 2.8%
340 million x 3% = 10.2 million
Hard agree. Watch the same people sit out the midterns because on a single issue du jour again. Calling it now. Happy to be proven wrong.
IMO, by that time, oil prices will fall a bit (due to alternative sources, increased electric car use, more paying toll fees to Iran, and/or maybe, just maybe, more Americans cycling, walking, and using public transit), and/or many Americans will get used to the higher prices (the left because some of them like increased gas prices as a check on over-consumption, and MAGAts will not protest it, because Trump could punch a MAGAt in the face and he will say, "Thank you, Mister President. May I have another?").
Everyone forgot that there is a hidden big good function for protests more than just a good way to show unity
The hidden function is to enable people to be together so they can socialize, get to know each other, and brainstorm on what they can do together to make things better in some way. Brainstorming, doing, and collaborating united
Everybody in a protest getting things done is more effective than a protest where everyone is only just walking with signs
I suppose it also indicates a level of commitment.
e.g. it's one thing to post on some internet site, another to meet people IRL at a place of interest.
Right! For example I found out people are organizing like in Minneapolis for if/when ICE ramps up anything here. There were people handing out cards with a number to call to report ICE activity and others organizing to help affected families. Respect to Minneapolis for being a model for the country.
3% of 320 million is like 9.6 million. I guess they needed another 1.6 million people before the world changes for them.
wp:Demographics of the United States
3% of 341 million is 10.23 million; but yeah, it seems to be growing.
Yep. The idea that if the marches hit 3% things will suddenly get better is a fallacy though. The US is far too large and sparse for that 3% rule to work like some are hoping. Its a lot of people, and good on everyone for going out, but i think actual change requires a bit more.
I've been using 3.5% of 335,000,000 million, which is 11,725,000. Figure 12,000,000.
This No Kings was about 8 million, which was bigger than last time. There are also millions of people at home that are committed to the end of MAGA, but won't go to a protest.
We hit that 3.5% of committed resistance long ago.
What are they doing, besides complaining about it?
What is a protest but a whole lot of people gathering to "complain about it?" Nothing actually gets done, nothing is decided, nothing changes. You just let the other side know how you feel. If all the Left has is No Kings, then we've already lost. No Kings is a DEMONSTRATION of our numbers, it is not a solution in itself. It's only meant to scare them with our increasing strength.
Non-protesters are home doing doing the exact same things that No Kings protesters are doing when they're not at a quarterly No Kings protest. They are keeping up with what's going on, speaking out every day, in every way possible, posting on line, engaging their family, friends, and co-workers in conversations, spreading the word, giving people alternate information from the Conservative Propaganda Machine, making people understand that they aren't alone, contacting their elected representatives, etc.
You'd better hope that there are a LOT more committed supporters staying in their homes, because if all the Dems had was No Kings protesters to vote for them, then the election would be 2% Dem, and 98% MAGA.
Is there any effort at the No Kings protests to encourage people to get armed and trained to protect their communities should the need arise?
Militias and Firearms are enshrined in the constitution—it doesn’t need to be a right only thing.
my local rapid response network gave a pretty good talk.
I could be wrong but I think the 3.5% protest observations assumes but doesn't count non-participatory support. So the 3.5% is meant as the number in the streets with some much higher percentage of 'quiet' support.
Valid. I'm sure they want that 3.5% in the streets so they can unequivocally claim a Tipping Point (although a Tipping Point is NEVER guaranteed, just possible). No Kings participants want to play down the non-patricipants as not being committed enough, but for many, it simply isn't possible, due to age, physical limitations, distance, anxiety, etc.
But that doesn't mean they aren't just as outraged, and just as committed, and those silent voices of outrage fuel the fire BETWEEN No Kings Rallies. And when the No Kings Rallies are happening, it's important to acknowledge that the number is much, much higher, meaning those in the streets have an enormous block of silent power behind them. We need to make MAGA understand that as big as those growing crowds are, they are dwarfed by the angry Citizens at home. We need to make them very, very frightened of us.
That's the problem with protests since Trump was elected. It turns out you can just ignore protests, and this never occurred to politicians up until this point. Up until then, politicians acknowledged protests as a good-faith effort to represent their constituents.
It needs a trifecta. Protests, Politics, and "Persuasion".
The protests give weight to the political group. They also give cover and a place to organise for harder actions.
The political elements act to focus the will of the protestors, and provide guidance to the agitators.
The "Persuasion" group add teeth to the political demands. They also act to defend the protestors, when the government gets aggressive.
The 3 need to work together to achieve major changes. "The Troubles", in northern island are a good example. The IRA didn't achieve much/anything practical. What they did was force the UK government to sit down and negotiate in (vaguely) good faith. The protests and marches acted to show large scale support for the changes.
Against an intelligent, aware government, the need for violence is implicit, rather than explicit. It's a lot better to engage early and diffuse political hot potatoes. Unfortunately, the US government doesn't seem like they will take the hints.
The marches should be used to crystallise the other 2 requirements. A political agency, to act as a voice. As well as those willing to go further, to act as the muscle.
The mythical 3.5% rule is to keep protests peaceful, which only helps the oppresser
and your alternative to confronting the US police, military, and the several 10s of millions who voted for Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024—and I suppose at least half of those who voted for Dubya—is ...,?
What kind of action are you talking about?
From the looks of the comment history, they plan on writing “pedo” next to his signature on the cash and bugging out of the country. So, performative bullshit followed by running away when it gets too tough.
Defacing currency is easy.
What if they did a few 100s of other easy things? What would it add up to?
Hey now, we should all be writing rapist next to his signature! If course we can all do more too.
Maybe deface $20 bills that have as a portrait a man who not only owned slaves, but also traded them?
Agreed. I’m down for vandalism as a pastime as long as we recognize it’s pretty much the least one can do and changes nothing, compared to other efforts. It’s basically irl memeing, good for a laugh, good for pissing off the MAGAs, but at then end of the day the dude putting his name on the money still has more than us and will just print more if all we do is deface it.
I can imaging TV news reporting the news of such, and then joking about it.
His acolytes have not just normalized what he is, they celebrate it because they’re so invested in “if libs hate it we love it”. This guy was at CPAC this weekend and I’ve seen similar, if not quite so explicit, messaging floating around. The news will downplay it and MAGA will get aroused by knowing their guy’s perversion offended someone.
I was thinking about regular people having a laugh.
MAGAts are a lost cause.
Don't underestimate culture. Though I do agree with you to an extent
For starters, let’s disrupt during normal business hours. Hell, general strike for a week. A couple of weekend hours every quarter won’t do shit.
Yeah? Who's gonna do that? The same people who won't even stop using netflix or facebook? Where are all of these people that you think are just waiting to join you up? Unless you have more than 150 MILLION people helping you, the protest won't do shit.
What's different today? Anything. Do you think that anyone saw you all and said, "That's it, I'm different. Fuck this!" lol Most ignored you, ignored what little news there is about you, and went about their day.
Vote. That's it.
Give it until November since no one can really do anything until then.
And if November doesn't change it because his administration creates it impossible to vote, wait until a bullet changes things.
The side that wants to advocate for guns better get ready when the other side starts using them. I'd say to ask Charlie Kirk but he's a little quiet recently.
There might be alternatives to triggering a civil war.
Unfortunately with a population of almost 350 million people it will take more like 12 million to hit the 3.5% (not 3%), so there's still a ways to go. Each one has been bigger than the previous one so maybe it's possible, especially if the consequences of this idiotic war get really bad for the average USian--and I don't see how that won't get way way worse.
The other thing about that paper with the 3.5% thing, it was talking about sustained protests, not just one every few weeks or months.
On the bright side I don't see how trump will be able to pretend to be compos mentis for even another year, let alone the rest of his term. But on the dim side, his regime will remain in place even if he's goes tomorrow.
"B-but it takes so much time and effort!! Don't worry we'll be able to do something after 5 more years of doing this once every 6-12 months on the weekends when businesses are closed. We can let him keep murdering people like every other president does in the meantime."
If you think No Kings is the only resistance work happening right now in the U.S., you're really not paying attention.