WASHINGTON \u2013 Carrying an umbrella painted with the words \u201cvote, power, people\u201d, retired teacher Sabine Carlson said the plan for the Oct 17 \u201cNo King\u201d marches was clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to voice your anger and we have long lists of complaints, but the most important thing of all is to go and vote,\u201d said the 66-year-old Democrat from Washington\u2019s suburbs.<\/p>\n
At the demonstration near the country\u2019s Capitol, Carlson joined one of the estimated 3,000 events organised by the prominent anti-Trump movement across the US on Oct 17.<\/p>\n
Rather than holding massive marches, the latest \u201cNo Kings\u201d events varied across the country \u2013 with honking convoys, concerts and neighbourhood gatherings. It was the fourth iteration of the demonstrations since US President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.<\/p>\n
The stated goal of the event was to fire up voters just as Americans begin casting ballots in the midterm elections, where Republicans, who hold the majority in Congress, face fierce opposition.<\/p>\n
Democrats are seeking to take control of Congress by campaigning on cost of living issues and an unpopular war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Focused on early voting ahead of election day on Nov 3, the events ranged from New York to Los Angeles and other blue stronghold cities, to small towns across the nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most important votes and it\u2019s really important to make people aware, and make sure they\u2019re registered correctly,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cDon\u2019t go to the wrong polling station.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018An act of joy\u2019<\/p>\n
Most areas of the US allow voters to cast their ballots ahead of time, sometimes weeks in advance.<\/p>\n
Alma Couverthie, who oversees grassroots-organising efforts for democracy watchdog Common Cause, said the point of the \u201cNo Kings\u201d rallies was \u201creclaiming voting for what it truly is: an act of power, an act of service, and an act of joy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Trump has openly criticised the practice of mail-in voting, and opponents have expressed concern that the administration will attempt to undermine the results \u2013 especially if Republicans end up losing, as opinion polls show is likely.<\/p>\n
By advocating for voting early, \u201cNo Kings\u201d organisers hope to cut off the potential for any malfeasance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best way to prevent any funny business from this administration after election day is to make sure that our turnout is massive, so clear and so overwhelming that our victory for democracy is impossible to question,\u201d Couverthie said.<\/p>\n
\u2018We want our country back\u2019<\/p>\n
One 52-year-old military veteran who joined the Oct 17 protest did so seeking catharsis from the current state of American politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so disillusioned by what I thought I was serving versus what this country has become,\u201d said the Virginia resident, declining to give his name.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last 18 months \u2013 I finally came to this conclusion about six months ago \u2013 I\u2019ve been mourning my country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrying an umbrella with the message \u201cVote for humanity. End this circus now. We want our country back\u201d, he said he hoped to see \u201ca robust response come Nov 3 from the American people\u201d.<\/p>\n
Beyond Washington, like-minded Americans echoed his hopes and fears.<\/p>\n
Outside a church in Gastonia, North Carolina, women carried signs that read \u201cHonk for Democracy\u201d and \u201cMake a plan to vote!\u201d<\/p>\n
In Portland, Maine, demonstrators bundled up against the autumn chill waved the American flag and carried signs reading \u201cYour Vote is Your Voice\u201d and \u201cNo Kings, No Cowards Collins\u201d, in reference to Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins, who faces a tough re-election race.<\/p>\n
In Wilton Manors, Florida, demonstrators were out in the sun, dressed in shorts and sunglasses, and carrying signs reading \u201cEnough is enough\u201d. AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2013 Carrying an umbrella painted with the words \u201cvote, power, people\u201d, retired teacher Sabine Carlson said the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-886286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}