2 weeks Ago By Anna Cafolla
Protests took place across the streets of all 50 U.S. states on Saturday (April 5) in opposition to President Donald Trump, organized by the Hands Off movement that are calling for an end to Trump’s “hostile takeover,” and his “authoritarian overreach and billionaire-backed agenda.
” The pro-democracy, pro-worker movement led more than 1,200 rallies, with more than 150 progressive groups are involved in organizing the demonstrations. This included progressive public policy advocacy groups like MoveOn and Indivisible, and other groups that work across civil rights women’s rights groups, veterans support, labor unions, climate justice, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. “Whether you are mobilized by the attacks on our democracy, the slashing of jobs, the invasion of privacy, or the assault on our services—this moment is for you,” Hands Off’s event materials reads .
“We are setting out to build a massive, visible, national rejection of this crisis.” The protests follow Trump’s continued slashing of the federal workforce, as well as his announcement earlier in the week on tariffs, which were made to widespread uproar and caused the stock market to plummet. As reported by Reuters , a poll found Trump’s approval rating fell to 43%, his lowest since taking up office.
Demands by Hand’s Off read as such from their public statement, calling for “an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration; an end to slashing federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on; and an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.” There is also a focus on Musk’s “illegal power grab,” with the group stating that “Trump, Musk, and congressional Republicans are gutting services, raising prices, and racing towards slashing Medicaid, social security, and more.” In New York, thousands marched from Bryant Park to Madison Square Park.
In Washington D.C., tens of thousands of protesters gathered at the National Mall, and large crowds turned out in Hollywood, Florida—close to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort—turned out for the demonstration.
One protest took place at a Tesla dealership in Fort Lauderdale. There were also international solidarity protests taking place in Paris and London, among other European cities. At the group’s largest protest in Washington D.
C., Democratic representatives took turns to speak to the crowd, including Maryland’s Jamie Raskin who described the president as having “the politics of Mussolini and the economics of Herbert Hoover.” Minnesota Democratic representative Ilhan Omar and Maxwell Frost of Florida also spoke, asking people to take part in the action, donate to mutual aid funds, put pressure on their elected reps, and stay focused on the demands.
Across the demonstrations, chants of “hey ho, Trump’s gotta go,” and “power to the people” circulated. Placards read “Hands Off Education,” “Fuck Musk,” and “Resist, Resist.”.
