Saturday, October 18, 2025

The meaning of today's NO KINGS protests

Today, NO KINGS protests took place across the US, in over 2700 locations, with over 7 million people participating -- which is over twice as many people who turned out for Donald Chump's January 2017 inauguration and Chump's January 2025 inauguration combined.  Ouch, that as to hurt the tiny Chump who's always been such a size queen.

Over 20,000 turned out in Austin, Texas. And if you're thinking that's just Austin, people turned out across Texas -- a state that filth has destroyed -- the Roseanne Barrs and others moving in and degrading the state each year.  Texas gets such a bad rap as though its dealing with just home grown Republicans.  The 1979 to 1980 GOP migration to Texas from Ohio, for example.  Every year more garbage goes into Texas from other US states.  So it's amazing when they get close to electing a Democrat to state wide office.  

Dallas' WFAA reports on the NO KING protests that took place in North Texas.  




Patrick Williams (DALLAS OBSERVER) reports:


Depending on your political point of view, Mother Nature might have been weeping in sympathy, or God might have been chastising protesters when the skies opened up with a downpour on the “No Kings” protest that packed Pacific Plaza in downtown Dallas on Saturday afternoon. Whatever the case, the steady rain didn’t dampen the cheers and chants of the crowd as speakers decried ICE tactics, immigration crackdowns and divisions President Donald Trump’s policies are opening in the nation.

Arlington, Flower Mound, Frisco, Fort Worth, Garland, McKinney, and other cities in North Texas held protests on Saturday, joining some 2,600 communities around the country in an event to denounce President Donald Trump and policies they say have led him to act more like a monarch than a U.S. president.

“We are here to say that our faiths stand for compassion, love and mercy … leaders must bring us together,” the Rev. Eric Folkerth told the crowd. Folkerth is one of the leaders of the Clergy League for Emergency Action and Response, an interfaith group including Christian, Muslim and Jewish clergy that organizes vigils outside Dallas’ ICE facility. He called on protesters to pray for ICE agents who are “harming their souls.”

ICE raids and immigration were a major target of the speakers, who offered solidarity with Chicago and Portland, Oregon, two Democratic-led cities that are in court fight efforts by the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops, including some from Texas, to assist ICE. Police violence, the government shutdown and attacks on federal workers and repeated calls to organize and vote were also on the speakers’ agendas.



Andrea Loredo-Gonzalez (TEXARKANA GAZETTE) reports:

Area residents held a protest Saturday at Spring Lake Park as part of the the national No Kings movement.

The protest was meant to take place in the parking lot of Central Mall, located on Richmond Road. However, due to a private property issue, organizers and attendees decided to move the protest to Spring Lake Park.

At its peak, the protest saw between 150 to 175 attendees, with most of them holding signs and some even dressed on theme with the movement.


KHOU notes multiple protests in Houston:


The first local protest was in downtown Houston at Discovery Green.  Protesters gathered there, then started a march to Houston City Hall, where another protest began at 2 p.m.

The City Hall rally lasted through 6 p.m. and included speakers and a march around downtown Houston.  There were also local protests in Kingwood, The Woodlands, Katy, Cypress, Conroe, Richmond, Pasadena, Huntsville, and Pearland.

“We’re here today to stand up to the Trump administration’s war on immigrant communities and working-class people,” one demonstrator told KHOU 11's Orko Manna.

“We all have to stand united, otherwise we get divided,” said another. 

Michael Adkison (HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA) adds:


A chorus of cheers roared from the crowd as Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas took the microphone.

"We know what lawlessness looks like," Crockett said. "Lawlessness looks like ICE going and disappearing people. Lawlessness looks like Donald Trump, who just happens to be convicted of 34 felony convictions, sitting in the White House. Lawlessness looks like going after your political enemies just because."

12 NEWS NOW's Sharinna Byrd and Brett Strahan report  Beaumont, Texas held a protest.  Where's the link?  I don't link to trash.  How about Sharinna and Brett learn how to report?  A report isn't a single sentence about a protest and paragraph after paragraph quoting a press release attacking the protest -- a press release a day before the protest.  Who What When? Sharinna and Brett did you even study journalism?  

Despite propaganda outlets like 12 NEWS NOW, Beaumont turned out for NO  KINGS.  KETK notes multiple protests in East Texas, "No Kings protests were held by East Texans in Athens, Jacksonville, Longview, Lufkin, Palestine, Mineola, Nacogdoches and Tyler on Saturday afternoon as a part of a series of No Kings protests which have been held across the country this year." Click here for photos.  Drew Shaw (FORT WORTH REPORT) notes:


Storms over downtown Fort Worth were on and off Saturday, but shouts of No Kings protesters were steady throughout the afternoon.

The event’s organizers estimated a crowd of 6,500 congregated in Burk Burnett Park, where chants competed with wind and, at times, drumming rain to protest President Donald Trump’s perceived authoritarianism and pushing of the limits of executive power.

“Impeach Trump,” “Abolish ICE” and “Save Democracy” were common messages on signs. 


Waco turned out.



TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO covers San Antonio:

Several thousand protesters gathered at Travis Park in downtown San Antonio on Saturday to denounce the Trump administration.

[. . .]

Among the many speakers who rallied the crowds were Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.


They gathered in Boerne.  I speak in Texas all the time on many campuses.  I've learned the state and then some since the start of the Iraq War.  We have a ton of community members in Texas.  Mineola and Athens are small cities.  I am aware of them though.  Boerne?  I've never heard of it before tonight.  That's not meant as an insult to them, good for Boerne for turning out.  TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO reports:

Protesters lined Main Street in front of the Boerne City Hall building as part of the nationwide “No Kings Day” protests happening across all 50 states today, coordinated by a network of organizations who oppose policies and actions of President Donald Trump and his administration. 

About a half-dozen Trump supporters stood on the other side of Main Street to counter-protest the dozens who chanted and held signs to express their concerns that the president is acting like a monarch rather than a duly elected leader.

Today's demonstrations make up the second mass protests organized by No Kings, formed largely by progressive groups who are against Trump's agenda to rule authoritatively and act like a king. The first No Kings rallies occurred in June to protest—among other issues— the lavish, elaborate and expensive military parade Trump helped orchestrate in his own honor.

Demonstrators at today's protests are also opposed to the Trump administration's aggressive immigration detention actions—carried out openly by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Demonstrators are also protesting the dramatic cuts to education resources, as well as the ongoing Republican gerrymandering efforts in Texas, California and other states.

Veterans groups are also part of the No Kings movement— in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several veterans were among the protesters in Boerne. 



That's Boerne, Austin, Beaumont, Houston, San Antonio, Athens, Lufkin, Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Palestine, Mineola, Fort-Worth and Nacogdoches.  I'm sure there are many, many more.  Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are in the top ten for most populated cities in the United States.  

The reason we focused on Texas is because the state went for Chump.  The November election had 6.3 million people voting for Chump and 4.8 million people voting for Kamala Harris -- the Texas vote went 56.14% for Chump, 42.46% voting for Kamala Harris.  


But Texas turned out.  Texas' turnout today is very bad news for Chump.  San Francisco?  We turned out today.  But that shouldn't be surprising. 


We delivered 323,719 votes for Kamala and only 62,594 for Chump -- that's 80.33% of us voted for Harris in San Francisco and only 15.53% voted for Chump.  So, yeah, San Francisco turned out today and good for us.  


But so did Texas.  And that's a big turnaround from November.  That's got to really worry Chump -- as it should.  The people have turned against Chump. He was headed for lame duck status after the mid-terms anyway.  But today demonstrates that the people have turned against him.  


This is the pushback and he has been put on notice.


Of course with a demented person like him, it may not matter that he's been put on notice.  But Republicans in the House better grasp that it matters since they'll be up for re-election in a year -- and those Republican senators up for re-election better grasp it as well.  


Things are getting very uncomfortable for the GOP and it's only going to get worse.   Reed Abelson and Margot Sanger-Katz (NEW YORK TIMES) report:


Health insurance prices for next year under the Affordable Care Act are now available in about a dozen states, giving Americans their first look at the sharp increases many will pay for coverage if Congress does not extend subsidies that have made some plans more affordable.

The annual enrollment period for Obamacare is expected to begin Nov. 1, but the costs for some Americans are becoming publicly available piecemeal through some state marketplaces. The federal website healthcare.gov, which includes 28 other state marketplaces, is slated to post prices before the end of October.

People shopping for coverage can now preview the costs they face from potentially expiring subsidies and sharply rising premiums in many markets, including California, New York, Nevada, Maryland and Idaho. Some consumers also found out that they would have fewer choices because their insurers dropped out of some markets for 2026.

Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year because they would no longer qualify for more generous subsidies, said Gideon Lukens, a health policy researcher for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which supports extending the subsidies.

Democrats in Congress are fighting to stop these increases.  And people around the country are grasping that as well.

This is the unwinding for Chump.  It may be for the GOP as well.  They really need to figure out whether they're going to sink with Chump and his shutdown.  


The following sites updated:





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