The US Just Took A Huge Leap Towards Revolution

The 'No Kings' protests drew a line in the sand.

No Kings protest in Chicago — WikiCC

Last weekend was a litmus test for the US. Were they going to fall in line and yield to the Tangerine Palpatine, the Cheeto Bonito, the Mango Mussolini, the Fondling Father and his sycophantic, egotistical parade? Or would they chuck his grotesque tea into the Boston River? This truly is a crossroads, as history has proven countless times. Once a nation bends the knee to authoritarianism, there is no going back. The tyrants never return the power to the people — it’s either oppression or ruination. With Trump’s ridiculous display of inadequacy becoming a humiliating blunder and the ‘No Kings’ protests being some of the largest in US history, the result is now painfully obvious. However, by comparing the two, we are missing the main story here.

But first, let’s take a moment to point and laugh at Trumpoleon’s failure.

Trump claims more than 250,000 people attended his military parade on June 14th, but either he has been enjoying the remainder of Elon’s ketamine, or he is lying. In reality, the crowd was significantly below the projected 200,000. The photos of the event look bleak, with empty seats, bare fields and desolate attractions.

But hold on, it gets worse. Reporters on the ground found that many attendees despised Trump and had only attended out of loyalty to the military. There was also a Craigslist ad that popped up a few days before the event seeking “seat-fillers” for “space maximisation and attendance perception” for an event in “Washington DC on June 14th” in exchange for $1,000 in cryptocurrency. Sadly, it seems this advert was a prank, but it was a pretty bloody good one. Either way, a sizeable portion of that tiny crowd hated the man the event was being held for.

It seems even those within the parade may have hated him. Spectators have ridiculed the parade, noting that no one marched in step, as is commonly seen with these dictator-pleasing marches, making the military look amateurish. However, many veterans have publicly stated that everyone is taught how to march in step in basic training and have therefore theorised that this was the military’s way of protesting Trump — which is an intriguing theory that I am ill-equipped to verify.

So, egg is most definitely on the Orange Führer’s face.

But what about the ‘No Kings’ protests?

Well, they were double the size of the ‘Hands Off’ protests, with the organisers claiming that over five million people attended across the country and external analysts finding that up to six million attended. That makes it the third-largest mass protest in US history, just behind the 1970 Earth Day protests and the 2020 George Floyd protests. Furthermore, they were overwhelmingly peaceful. The only exceptions were the result of external violence, such as an SUV that drove at departing protestors in Northern Virginia and police in Los Angeles antagonising protestors with batons and tear gas (something that they have likely continued from the recent ICE protests).

This was a clear message of opposition. Violence is a tool of the oppressor, of the bully, of the authoritarian. Trump and his goons will have been salivating at the mouth at the idea of these protests turning violent, as then they can crack down, marginalise and demonise the protestors and strengthen their grip on power. But six million people didn’t give in to Trump’s barbaric game — they stood their ground and said “No”.

And treating authoritarians as what they are — petulant children — is precisely how democracy can be saved.

I have discussed this subject before (click here), but the brilliant Erica Chenoweth, after years of studying regime changes and dramatic political shifts worldwide, discovered the 3.5% rule. It turns out that no government can withstand the challenge of 3.5% of its population engaging in civil disobedience (protesting) without either accommodating the movement or collapsing entirely. Chenoweth also found that nonviolent movements are twice as successful as violent ones. This is for several reasons, including preventing the government from demonising the protestors, as we have already discussed. But it also increases public support for the movement and enables more people to attend protests, making it easier to reach the 3.5% target.

For those who cherish US democracy, this is the finish line. If you successfully persuade 3.5% of the population to peacefully protest, then Trump’s tyranny ends.

The US population is 340 million, meaning that 1.7% of the population attended the ‘No Kings’ protests. That is a giant leap forward from the ‘Hands Off’ protests just a few months ago, which represented just under 1% of the population, and it means the US is halfway to the 3.5% mark.

If the anti-Trump movement continues to grow at this rate, it will reach the 3.5% mark by February next year. That is the real story here.

This is especially true when you consider that Trump’s disastrous economic policies haven’t really hit the US consumer yet, ICE operations are set to dramatically expand from here, Medicaid and Medicare are set to be effectively scrapped, lawsuits are set to uncover potentially huge vote rigging for Trump in the 2024 elections (read more here), and Trump continues to push for multi-billion dollar vanity projects such as Golden Dome. These acts don’t exactly scream “people-pleasing”. Even MAGA is turning on Trump after the failure of DOGE, the fiscal insanity of the Big Beautiful Bill, and Trump relaxing ICE raids on a few industries — after all, it is these decisions that paint him as incapable of delivering what he promised the far-right. In short, Trump’s approval rating is set to fall even further in the coming months.

So, doubling the number of protestors and reaching that critical 3.5% mark isn’t that hard. In fact, it seems like the first few dominoes have already tumbled over; in many ways, it’s just a matter of time. Fascists, with their broken ideology, desperation and inadequacy, always shoot themselves in the foot and lose. History is crystal clear on that subject, and we are watching it happen all over again. It’s painfully predictable. The question is, how much more damage will be caused this time around before it all comes tumbling down?

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Sources: TNR, The Guardian, NPR, Forbes, Will Lockett, BBC, ICNC, The Independent, US Today, Hindustan Times, New York Times