On October 20, 2025, amid the ongoing shutdown of the federal government, “No King” protests erupted in multiple locations across the United States on Saturday, October 18. The organizers claimed nearly 7 million people took to the streets to oppose President Trump’s “authoritarian” policies. House Speaker Mike Johnson strongly criticized the demonstrations, labeling them as evidence of the “Marxist uprising within the Democratic Party”.
Johnson criticized the protests on Sunday, October 19, saying it was a political spectacle to shift responsibility by Democratic politicians, pushing forward a “dangerous Marxist ideology”.
During an interview on ABC’s “This Week” program with Jonathan Karl, Johnson stated, “They need a gimmick. They need a show. Chuck Schumer needs cover now. He shut down the government, so he needs political cover, and this [protest activity] is part of it.”
He also accused the protests of propagating “hateful messages” such as “Fascists must die,” deeming the protest as “un-American” and promoting a “dangerous Marxist ideology”.
Earlier, Johnson referred to the protests as a “hate America rally” and linked it to Hamas and anti-fascist organizations.
He sarcastically remarked, “If Trump were a king, they wouldn’t be able to have freedom of speech activities in the National Square, but the square is open, Trump didn’t close it.”
Furthermore, during an interview with Fox Business Channel, Johnson expressed hope that after the protests, the Democratic Party could accept the Republican-proposed plan to reopen the government. However, he expressed skepticism about this possibility, emphasizing that the protests revealed an “anti-American” ideology contrary to American values.
Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise also criticized Schumer, saying he is more concerned about pleasing the “hate America” crowd rather than addressing issues.
Democratic leaders strongly refuted the Speaker’s criticism. Schumer expressed support for the protests on the social media platform X, stating, “We are marching for this democracy together.”
Senator Sanders also responded to the criticism by saying that these protests are “patriotic acts” aimed at protecting democratic values.
Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of the “No King” movement, called Johnson’s remarks “absurd” on MSNBC and stated that the protests were coordinated by dozens of freedom advocacy groups, rejecting the Republican attempt to pressure Democrats with the “hostage strategy” of starting layoffs due to the government shutdown.
According to organizers, an estimated 7 million people participated in Saturday’s “No King” rally, making it the largest single-day protest in the United States since Trump returned to the White House in January. This marked the third large-scale protest since then.
During the protests, many demonstrators wore inflatable animal costumes and held signs with slogans such as “No King” and “Resist Fascism”. The protests took place in various cities including New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, Portland, Austin, and even extended to London.
California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on X platform, stating, “California will continue to peacefully resist the authoritarian takeover of the Trump administration.”
Despite concerns that the protests might incite violence, the national rally on Saturday remained largely peaceful.
According to the New York Police Department, over 100,000 people participated in five boroughs with no protest-related arrests. Protesters briefly flooded the streets in Washington D.C., but there were no records of arrests.
However, the Portland police in Oregon detained three individuals, who were allegedly involved in an attack, with one person sent to jail; the Broadview police in the Chicago suburbs arrested at least 15 people; the Denver police dispersed a group attempting to enter the highway and arrested several individuals.
There were a few arrests in other small cities, but authorities stated that the demonstrations were “mostly peaceful”.