Why the No Kings Protests Matter

Demonstrators gather in front of the federal building guarded by a mix of U S Marines and National Guards during the No Kings protest following immigration operations in Los Angeles on July Photo Etienne Laurent AFP via Getty Images Last Friday new talking points were seemingly rolled out across the MAGA sphere Top GOP leadership from House Speaker Mike Johnson to Minnesota Rep Tom Emmer to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy began seeding a narrative about in the present day s No Kings protests Rather than describing them for what they are First Amendment-protected rallies where millions of Americans are expected to peacefully stand against the Trump administration s unconstitutional authoritarian and un-American agenda Republican leadership is framing the upcoming demonstrations as Hate America protests Party leaders also called the gatherings terrorist and Soros-funded events that would be filled to the brim with the antifa crowd the pro-Hamas crowd and the Marxists This trial-balloon messaging is meant to get ahead of what organizers say could be one of the largest days of mass protest in U S history with events planned in every state Millions of Americans are projected to attend specific rallies to oppose the illegality and immorality of the Trump agenda the destruction of hard-won civil and constitutional rights and the fascist ambitions of the MAGA movement Republican leaders are attempting to preemptively cast this protest within the framework Stephen Miller has been working to aggressively mainstream since the assassination of Charlie Kirk where all who oppose the extremist MAGA agenda are domestic terrorists To their credit Democratic and Independent leaders responded promptly Sen Bernie Sanders issued a comment pointing out that the No Kings protests are protected under the First Amendment and contrary to right-wing smears protesters are standing up for American values Former Republican and now Independent Joe Walsh called out the GOP s attempt to vilify half of the American electorate as shameful in a post on Twitter and urged his followers to attend the protests emphasizing that his former party is scared to death of the looming rallies It s true MAGA is terrified of the specter of massive nonviolent protest and for good reason Nothing threatens their agenda more than millions of ordinary Americans mobilizing to put a face to the opposition The Impact of Images of Dissent The administration has been working overtime in newest weeks to vilify and alienate its opposition painting Democrats and left-leaning activists alike as violent extremists With their media footholds and tight messaging discipline they ve had particular success in painting a picture of a fictional widespread antifa threat which is already serving as a pretext for the Trump s administration s Justice Department to file terrorism charges against its foes Related Trump s Idea of the Criminal Left Is a Fiction A Coordinated Defense Against His Fascism Shouldn t Be But pictures are louder than words or soundbites Even small-scale protests like the inflatable frog demonstrations against ICE in Oregon have resonated widely and effectively negated MAGA s breathless portrayal of Portland as a city under siege by any forces other than the National Guard By making visible both the magnitude of opposition to MAGA s authoritarianism and the everyday relatability of the Americans who are taking a righteous stand the No Kings rallies pose a real PR predicament for the extremist right They puncture the narrative fictions that the MAGA movement has been working so hard to construct and undermine the credibility of their messengers They also force GOP leaders into the awkward position of explaining why a large swath of the American masses from every walk of life are supposedly domestic terrorists Mass nonviolent protests also effectively jolt the disengaged inhabitants to pay attention Americans understandably tune out of day-to-day politics to focus on their immediate sphere they re overwhelmed exhausted and cynical about politics But moments of mass protests when millions are in the streets are hard to ignore They generate news coverage and powerful images that serve as irrefutable proof that all is not well and there is widespread opposition to the regime s agenda Critically they also remind us that we re not standing alone The Persuasive Power of Protest Protests as evidence of widespread defiance also reach far beyond the American residents They resonate with international audiences and key decision-makers in places like the Supreme Court the military and other institutions that may soon be in a position to decide if they will further comply with the administration s demands Political scientists Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan s widespread research on the power of nonviolent protest spells out how protest and institutional compliance impact one another In their findings they identify that once percent of a country s population is engaged in sustained nonviolent protest authoritarian regimes find it tough if not impossible to carry out their agendas That s because visible protest from large swaths of the population signals a deeper opposition throughout society including within the very institutions and constituencies an authoritarian regime requirements to enforce its will Widespread community resistance makes obedience and the carrying out of unconstitutional orders exponentially harder And even for those sitting on the fence mass protest is among the bulk powerful tools of persuasion available The Trump administration remains deeply unpopular and the No Kings protests have the foreseen to push that unpopularity to new heights Throughout U S history mass protest has driven certain of our greater part consequential shifts in masses opinion Mass protests were critical in building populace advocacy and shaping beliefs to win core democratic advances including civil rights the social safety net and women s suffrage Sociologist Charles Tilly distilled the key qualities that make mass protest persuasive popular and durable His framework offers four key elements for a achieving movement worthiness which hinges on the credibility of the participants unity which refers to the cohesiveness of the messages numbers or the size of the protest and commitment or ability of those involved to persevere Scholars later added a fifth diversity to assess the breadth of who is represented Together these elements correlate strongly with a movement s legitimacy its ability to inspire bystanders to join in and its power to influence elites and institutions The last time this full constellation appeared in the United States was during the overwhelmingly peaceful George Floyd protests It may be hard to remember in this moment of revisionist backlash but that massive multiracial and persistent protest moment powerfully shifted the national conversation on systemic racism In the summer of nearly in Americans named race relations as the country s top concern and a majority recognized systemic racism as a societal difficulty That surge in citizens consciousness and moral urgency around ending systemic racism was so persuasive and enduring that it drove Democratic voter registration and helped propel Joe Biden to achievement in the voting process Through this framework we can clearly understand the threat the MAGA regime sees in the No Kings protests Millions numbers of everyday Americans worthiness from all walks of life diversity standing together unity for the second time commitment for core American values and constitutional and civil rights pose an existential threat to authoritarian ambitions It is a prospective turning point one that could accelerate the erosion of backing for MAGA s political project grow the pro-democracy movement that opposes it and sow seeds of doubt within the administration s ranks Read Our Complete Coverage Protests for Black Lives Fascists Fight Back Around the world authoritarians are wising up In their research Chenoweth notes that globally nonviolent movements are meeting less success than in decades past as regimes coordinate with each other and devise new strategies to curtail their impact such as controlling the flow of information and working to outright criminalize protest It s happening in the US too The Trump administration is keenly aware of the prospective for mass nonviolent protest to shape inhabitants sentiment which is why it is moving fleetly to undermine and dismantle all infrastructure for opposition and organized dissent Related The Right Wing Desperately Wants to Make Charlie Kirk Its MLK The primary MAGA crony behind this effort is White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller Miller has made abundantly clear that he intends to dismantle his political opposition by forcing the narrative that any opposition to his agenda should be tamped down using the full power of the state He in recent times seized his opportunity to create a new designation of domestic terrorism to justify the research dismantling and defunding of oppositional civil society The administration is moving forward with plans to weaponize the IRS and so it can be used to launch criminal probes into left-leaning philanthropic and civil society organizations Trump acolyte Sen Ted Cruz has introduced regulation that will make it easier to charge organizations that fund or promotion inhabitants mobilization with RICO charges and just this week he invoked No Kings as one reason to pass the bill The administration hasn t been shy about the groups it wants to target first Trump himself has revealed he wants to go after his enemies on the left A shoddy document from the conservative nonprofit Capital Research Center which is presumed to be a guiding document for the administration crackdown cites mass-mobilizing groups like Indivisible Jewish Voice for Peace and the youth-led Sunrise Movement as inciting terrorism It s no accident that among MAGA s first targets are organizations that have the strongest track records of nonviolently mobilizing the American populace at scale and facilitating media-friendly protests that can move inhabitants opinion Getting rid of organizations that empower Americans to participate in legible nonviolent mobilization is a great way of ensuring that the conceptions of the opposition that reach the population are those that feed the MAGA narrative of a deranged left That is why mass citizens opposition is so vital now before this crackdown fully takes hold This is a crossroads moment for our country and the media should give these protests the coverage and consideration they deserve When the attacks against the civic sector organizations that encouragement and anchor mobilization do come they must be called out for what they are as nothing less than efforts to stifle free expression crush the First Amendment and silence dissent Because even if No Kings isn t exactly how you might describe the matter we are facing or you don t want to hang out with Resist wine moms or you don t think it would be as impactful as a general strike there is no easier or more pivotal thing that you can do nowadays for the well-being of this country These protests could be a tipping point to halt the Supreme Court s complicity with the MAGA agenda or be the deciding factor in stopping the military from responding to protesters with outright violence a possibility Trump has reportedly mused about We don t know exactly how the ripples from this protest will compound but we know that visible opposition is critical So if you re concerned about what s happening in this country go to a No Kings protest Then go to the next one too The post Why the No Kings Protests Matter appeared first on The Intercept