Myths About the 'No Kings' Protest
And other bad faith arguments
Last Saturday (October 18, 2025), more than 7 million Americans from both sides of the political aisle joined the No Kings protest with the united goal of making it clear that “America has no kings, and the power belongs to the people.” Altogether, there were 2,700 events, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia, garnering worldwide media coverage. This event struck a nerve in America, as millions rose up against the rise in authoritarianism seen daily coming from the President and MAGA movement more broadly. Together, Americans practiced their First Amendment right to protest peacefully, making it the largest protest in American history thus far.
Predictably, Trump responded with an angry Truth Social post that night, using an AI-generated video of him dropping loads of pardon my French, dung, over the country from a fighter jet labeled “King Trump”.
Now that we’ve gotten the elementary response from the leader of the free world out of the way, let’s break down some of the other juvenile lies and bad faith arguments coming out of the MAGA ecosystem surrounding this event, beginning with a few myths:
1.) It was organized by paid extremists and will be marked by violence.
Well, the day came and 7 million turned out. Not one arrest was made. Once those claiming there would be mass violence realized their argument was crumbling, they switched to “look at all these unserious people having fun.” Pick a lane, Mike Lee.
2.) There were no organized goals or actionable results in mind.
According the the No Kings website, this was just the beginning. They have lined up one actionable item that will update each week going forward. This week’s is Tell Your Story
Some other bad faith arguments included…
1.) “No Kings is really the geriatric boomers last gasp.”
Ok sure, the crowds looked predominantly older and whiter. So? Isn’t that the target demographic of Trump’s base? Perhaps this specific turnout serves as an indicator of a larger dissatisfaction among the older generation of civically engaged voters. If anything, that statement should set off alarm bells at the RNC as we begin our creep towards the 2026 midterms.
2.) “Trump’s win delivered him a mandate, so why even protest?”
Well, for those of us who are still constitutional conservatives, it matters a lot. For one, the election margins were more narrow than MAGA world would have you believe. Secondly, even if Trump had a “mandate”, it would run counter to all we believe as federalists to just “shut up and let him rule.” Remember the Tea Party protests? If Obama had told Republicans to just sit down and wait out his reign, they would have rightly called him out for acting like a king. Columnist Jonah Goldberg summed it perfectly in this tweet:
“If the American people want a politician to violate the Constitution that doesn’t give that politician a scintilla more right or authority to violate the constitution. I’m used to explaining this to democracy fetishists of the left. Didn’t expect to spend the last decades of my career trying to explaining it to populism fetishists of the right.”
Regardless of all the hubris, something even bigger was made clear last Saturday: many Americans have had enough. Each day, more people are coming together in unity to stand up to executive overreach. From our founding, America has stood against tyrants around the world. The time has come to stand up to the one in our own midst.
As George Packer so eloquently summarized in The Atlantic this week,
These were not the America-hating, Hamas-loving, paid street fighters that Republican leaders had dreamed up in the days before the countrywide ‘No Kings’ rallies…if anything can rouse the stupefied mainstream in time to stop the collapse of everything good about America, it’s a spectacle like this: dignified, irreverent, driven by old-fashioned love of country.
We certainly hope and pray that last Saturday’s protests are an indicator of a shifting tide, and that America’s brightest days are still ahead of us.
What Else We’re Reading
New York Times: Trump Empowers Election Deniers, Still Fixated on 2020 Grievances
The president has placed proponents of his false claims into government jobs while dismantling systems built to secure voting, raising fears that he aims to seize authority over elections ahead of next year’s midterms.
Meidas News: Atlanta Airport Suspect Was Longtime Trump Supporter Who Defended Confederate Flag
Last week, a man was arrested at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Ga for allegedly planning to carry out a shooting. More information has since come out, revealing he was a longtime Trump supporter who defended the Confederate flag.
American Values Coalition Director, Napp Nazworth, interviewed former Department of Homeland Security official, Elizabeth Neumann, on the topic of rising political violence—on the left and the right. You can watch the full episode here.
CNN: Republicans are ridiculing ‘No Kings.’ A striking new poll shows Americans aren’t laughing
56% said Trump had gone “too far” in “using the power of the presidency and executive branch,” according to a July CNN poll. That was up from 52% in February.
57% said Trump had gone “too far” in using presidential power to achieve his goals, according to an April AP-NORC poll.
62% said Trump has gone beyond his authority as president, according to a September Washington Post-Ipsos poll.
69% said Trump was exercising more presidential power than other recent presidents, and 49% said both that and that it was “bad” for the country, according to a September Pew Research Center poll.
54% of registered voters said he is “exceeding the powers available to him,” according to a September New York Times-Siena College poll. (That included nearly 1 in 5 Republicans.)
The Atlantic: Why the ‘No Kings’ Protest Moved Me
These were not the America-hating, Hamas-loving, paid street fighters that Republican leaders had dreamed up in the days before the countrywide ‘No Kings’ rallies…I don’t know if No Kings will transform from an intermittent day of protest into a political movement. But if anything can rouse the stupefied mainstream in time to stop the collapse of everything good about America, it’s a spectacle like this: dignified, irreverent, driven by old-fashioned love of country.
NPR: Education Department pours over $150 million into civics training for K-12 teachers
Heard on Morning Edition, panelists discuss: The U.S. Department of Education sends more than $150 million in grants to train K-12 teachers in civics education.
Mere Orthodoxy: A Helper Corresponding to Him
“Perhaps only the body of Christ can save us from our digital death spiral, offering a community of authentic affirmation that can be an antidote to both futility and flattery.”
Teachers aren't built today like they used to be Kemo Sabe
https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/teachers-arent-built-today-like-the