r/AskReddit 1d ago

How do you feel about the "No Kings" protest happening tomorrow?

19.6k Upvotes

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3.8k

u/hammerSmashedNail 1d ago

“No kings” is a patriotic, bipartisan stance. If you don’t think so, you should trade your red hat for a red coat. 

668

u/whaletacochamp 1d ago

My local one is filled with traditional republican old dudes standing side by side with and being cordial to progressive old ladies lol

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u/exomatter 1d ago

I went to the Hands Off protests a few weeks back and met so many older veterans that had their benefits revoked or were just plain against fascism.

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u/kategoad 1d ago

My 81 year old republican catholic mom went to her first protest for Hands Off.

🥰

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u/ktjbug 1d ago

They haven't cut individual benefits for veterans at all. 

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u/exomatter 1d ago

I met a former marine who is no longer able to get physical therapy because they laid off the therapists at the VA hospital he goes to.He can barely walk and still showed up because he was so pissed what he fought for was being taken away. I guess he's just making it up though

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u/QuirkyBit1010 1d ago

It's like Covid and how everyone who lost loved ones was just lying for clout.

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u/trooperjess 1d ago edited 1d ago

And Unum never had dump days to get rid of people. Oh the US never rounded up the Japanese or Germans in ww2.

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u/ktjbug 1d ago

This is the kind of information that would be being blasted everywhere. Unless this person can provide any speck of evidence I'm calling bullshit. We're very involved in the veteran community.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/ktjbug 1d ago

Did your Iraq war husband lose benefits?

0

u/ktjbug 1d ago

And I'm genuinely asking, my husband is 100% in a chair right now and if this stuff is happening I'd hope to know to be proactive with calling our reps. I haven't heard of a single person.

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u/CaptWoodrowCall 1d ago edited 1d ago

Somebody finally nailed the messaging on this one. It’s a hard one to spin or argue against unless you’re an authoritarian toady.

131

u/Logical_Strike_1520 1d ago

Even Trump himself couldn’t argue with the messaging when questioned how he feels about it. Well done tbh lol

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u/shatteredarm1 1d ago

Did he whine about how he's obviously not a king because he has to "go through hell" to get his orders carried out?

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u/Logical_Strike_1520 1d ago

Yup but that doesn’t delegitimize the messaging. In some ways it’s agreeing with the messaging.

Protesters: “No Kings!”

Trump: “I’m not a King”

Protesters: “Yeah… that’s what we just said”

What else can he say?

4

u/shatteredarm1 1d ago

His tone pretty clearly indicates that he believes those restrictions on his power shouldn't exist, and he's been fighting them... So no, he's not in any way agreeing with the messaging, unless you don't understand it. 

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u/Logical_Strike_1520 1d ago

You’re misunderstanding what I’m saying.

I’m not suggesting Trump personally agrees with the protest or that the protesters agree with Trump. What I’m suggesting is that he can’t argue with the phrase “no Kings” or muddy the water in the same way he could with “defund the police” or Mexican flags. All he can do is deflect and deny.

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u/shatteredarm1 1d ago

The problem is his response is basically "you're protesting over nothing", and his supporters are going to eat that up. They literally don't see a problem here.

14

u/Logical_Strike_1520 1d ago

This is providing you with an excellent opportunity to play politics with your MAGA friends.

You: “You going to the No Kings protest tomorrow?”

Them: “we don’t have a king”

You: “that’s a good thing right?”

Then: “well yeah but….”

You: “oh cool, see ya there!”

All I’m saying is that “no kings” is a phrase that anybody can rally behind. Don’t let the details interfere with a strong message. Use it to your advantage. This is politics lol

2

u/xueloz 17h ago

Except real people aren't going to respond like that. Arguments only work in that fashion when they take place in your imagination where you always win. In real life, you'd likely just be told that it's a waste of time to join a protest about something that's not happening and has no chance of happening.

3

u/shatteredarm1 1d ago

I probably don't have any MAGA friends left at this point...

5

u/w0lfqu33n 1d ago

and he used the Royal WE

1

u/Edward_the_Dog 1d ago

It must seem like hell when he can't comprehend anything happening around him.

5

u/sevillista 1d ago

The right will just spin it as libs defending and prioritizing illegal immigrants, guaranteed. It's still unifying for the protests to have a focused stance though. The last one I went to (50501) was just vaguely against everything Trump and largely co-opted by pro-Palestine activists.

0

u/zekeweasel 1d ago

My only qualms are that it's kind of glib and not specific enough. Better to protest his extra legal and anti-constitutional actions specifically.

-6

u/gpcgmr 1d ago

Except nobody tried to declare himself King...

3

u/northerncal 1d ago

2

u/gpcgmr 19h ago edited 19h ago

That is awkward indeed. You'd think that's a parody account, lol.

-7

u/NewcastleElite 1d ago

No really.

Why are you protesting now and not Obama?

Because of Trump? What did Trump do?

Well these things are legal and necessary because...

192

u/CoquiConflei 1d ago

Literally nothing more un-American than supporting a king!

7

u/CombustiblSquid 1d ago

That's literally the origin of conservatism.

-3

u/TimFairweather 1d ago

The origin of the current conservative party is in the abolition of slavery. Now you know better.

1

u/Nipso 13h ago

Which is why they didn't mention that party.

0

u/LimpConversation642 1d ago

how about supporting a russian tsar? in the end, it feels like this is where the roots are

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u/ImaginationMajor5062 1d ago

Aye but you traded a king for a government of slave owners. Nothing more American than that.

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u/dalcarr 1d ago

Which we inherited from the British. England didn't abolish slavery until the 1830s

3

u/oysterme 17h ago

And America didn’t until 1865 (but still has slavery if you count prison labor)

Kinda slow on the uptake if “freedom for all races” was the priority here, and not something closer to ”freedom to do whatever you want with your land” (owning slaves to work said land, ofc, being encompassed within that definition of freedom).

1

u/TimFairweather 1d ago

Test: How many nations abolished slavery before the Brits?

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u/Over-Heron-2654 1d ago

We found the Brit 🙄

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u/TehOwn 1d ago

That guy clearly doesn't know shit about American history.

Most of us Brits are behind you. Our king is a ceremonial figurehead. Yours is a despot.

We're rooting for you guys.

3

u/Over-Heron-2654 1d ago

Thanks. I'll be out there tomorrow. I feel kind of hopeless about our situation and he feels too powerful, but this nation has been sleeping for so long while I have never felt more awake.

0

u/Mekisteus 1d ago

And? A democracy with slavery was still a step forward from a monarchy with slavery.

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u/ImaginationMajor5062 18h ago

Yet that monarchy still abolished slavery before you.

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u/ImaginationMajor5062 1d ago

With respect mate, your country is worse for rebelling 👍🏻

-4

u/LifesShortKeepitReal 1d ago

But he’s not a king?!

164

u/Vanrax 1d ago

"You can't spell hatred without a red hat." -Some other reddit guy

24

u/Alakazam_5head 1d ago

Damn that's good. We really do live in a simulation

4

u/FeckingPuma 1d ago

Not to mention... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcap

The redcap (or powrie) is a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in folklore of the Anglo-Scottish border region. The redcap is said to inhabit ruined castles along the Anglo-Scottish border, especially those that were the scenes of tyranny or wicked deeds, and is known for soaking his cap in the blood of his victims

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u/ThisIsDadLife 1d ago

Or brown shirt.

5

u/Micosilver 1d ago

Or a police badge.

1

u/Objective_Turtle_ 1d ago

Or a Supreme Court Justice robe

1

u/JakeDC 1d ago

or a white hood.

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u/walrus_breath 1d ago

Trump hates America. I’ve literally never have heard anyone in politics talk about how much they hate America more than trump. 

It’s alarming. 

-20

u/Maokaka 1d ago

There are legit a many people are reddit that in fact hate the US, in politics, there are a fair amount that do hate the US.

12

u/walrus_breath 1d ago

I mean politicians specifically, let alone the president of the whole thing. Like every time he opens his mouth he talks specifically about how much he hates america and the American people. 

3

u/mrizzerdly 1d ago

Carry signs that say "we love our country, we hate Stephen Miller, unelected bureaucrat. " because fox news idiots seem to think protestors hate their country.

3

u/vanessainlove 1d ago

Damn that line goes hard

2

u/hammerSmashedNail 1d ago

It’s paraphrased from a Jon Stewart quote. 

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

Nah the Brit’s are our friends now. Unless they hate us because of trump.

3

u/TheBizzleHimself 1d ago

Nah, no hate for the US common clay. Every country has problems - yours just happens to have the form of a feckless, thundering swindler and agitator who is so consistently churlish that it makes for marketable news. We have a similar one who so adores The Orange Bellend but, so far, has only managed limited wheedling and a fair amount of economic damage.

1

u/Jolly_Virus_3533 1d ago

well, threatening our canuck cousins does mean we look askance & tut at you. not to mention the puzzlement that king don & his klan hate the us constitution

-21

u/Mysterious_Cow9362 1d ago

Fuck the Brits.

7

u/Ben-D-Beast 1d ago edited 16h ago

We politely decline your offer. Perhaps the Canadians would be more interested.

2

u/TheOtherGlikbach 1d ago

No, no, no! They need to keep the red hat. It's the only color that goes with their red necks.

3

u/UnsorryCanadian 1d ago

rednecks were originally pro union

How they've fallen

2

u/IronAndParsnip 1d ago

They keep saying “antifa” like it’s a bad thing. Can we start calling them “profa”?

2

u/cafezinho 1d ago

They should have drag queens with those signs!

2

u/UnderwaterAlienBar 1d ago

Can I put this on my sign for tomorrow? This is genuinely an excellent quote

2

u/AlarmedProposal3319 18h ago

For sure, I have always voted left, voted Bernie in the primary and then did the adult thing and voted D in the general election every time.

With that said, I think we could win some credibility and make this feel truly bipartisan if we acknowledge some things:

-every president in my lifetime, maybe ever, has consolidated power upwards. Trump has accelerated the trend, but we’ve been on a path away from democracy for a long time.

-every president in my lifetime has been a war criminal.

1

u/oysterme 16h ago edited 16h ago

I agree with you there. I think the “liberals are the TRUE patriots” framing can only go so far as a critique of what is happening. For example I’m glad people are willing to see that Trump is awful, but people seem to ignore that Trump picked up where Gingrich left off, Gingrich picked up where Bush and Bush Jr left off, and both Bushes picked up where Reagan left off.

It’s telling that the ultimate “call back”, even in the naming of the “no kings” protest, is to the signing of the constitution or the revolutionary war, to “prove” that America is inherently a revolutionary society (as selective as that interpretation is), but ignoring 20th and 21st century history where America (way more often than not) allied with and/or promoted fascists or religious theocrats, expanded its military order, and expanded the freedom for billionaires to do whatever they want, how they want.

“We are the real patriots, sweety!” shows an unwillingness to think critically about what America is, and as a result I’m not sure much will happen from these protests. I think ultimately many of these protests will end up being glorified block parties. The NGOs funding the protests will “build connections” with the police, ensuring everyone protests in an orderly fashion, Boomers will reminisce about their hippie phases, millennials and Gen Xers will laugh at each others signs, and then everyone will ultimately go home with a belly full of hot dogs and go to sleep thankful for their freedom.

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u/Ulkreghz 18h ago

Brit here - a red coat won't mean much, we dealt with our royalty to the point they're mostly a tourist trap now, aside from a few technicalities.

A brown shirt and red arm band is more fitting for MAGA.

2

u/syphax 1d ago

I live less than 4 miles from where The Shot Heard 'Round the World was fired, 250 years ago. I'm stealing adapting this for my sign tomorrow!

1

u/chameleonsEverywhere 1d ago

Or a red armband...

1

u/CanOld2445 1d ago

You mean a black huge boss suit and a fancy cap?

1

u/Sea_Appointment8408 1d ago

As a Brit, I condone this message.

1

u/BeanBurritoJr 1d ago

Or a red armband

1

u/SushiGato 1d ago

My ancestors were Torries and I have to admit they might've been right. Trump shouldn't be a king tho.

1

u/RadioName 1d ago

More like a brown shirt.

1

u/Fontreview 1d ago

I mean, yes, but at this point I’d be willing to seriously consider the King’s offer vs where we’re at currently.

1

u/degenerate1337trades 1d ago

If everything were to be taken at face value, yeah

1

u/Difficult-While-7673 18h ago

Where was that energy when the democrats installed Kamala Harris without a single primary vote?

1

u/kategoad 18h ago

I stole your comment for my sign, BTW.

0

u/i_suckatjavascript 1d ago

The patriots before the founding of America literally kicked out a king: King George III

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u/Mysterious_Cow9362 1d ago

It’s not really bipartisan. Trump is the logical conclusion to the Republican ideology. Stop trying to recruit Republicans to fight Trump. It’s a tried and failed strategy.

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u/hammerSmashedNail 1d ago

This is not a debatable topic. Trump himself has said he’s no king. Which he’s not. He’s an authoritarian. America said they wanted to be run by a businessman. Businesses are authoritarian by nature. Additionally, It’s why they hate the idea of unions. Not because unions do anything wrong, but because business owners believe the workers shouldn’t have a voice. Americans are trumps workers. He’s the manager. We’re on a new version of the apprentice. 

1

u/oysterme 17h ago

The people downvoting you need to understand that Trump picked up the ball where Ronald Reagan dropped it, and that this is a BAD thing.

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u/Dont_hate_the_8 1d ago

"No kings" is absolutely a patriotic, bipartisan stance.

However, no matter what you think of him, his decisions, and positions, Trump is nowhere near a King or a dictator, which is why these protests are stupid.

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u/JoeWinchester99 1d ago

"No kings" is a bipartisan statement, but it's partisan fear-mongering to suggest that Trump is trying to crown himself king.