“This is us being nice,” read one sign KNX News spotted in Studio City Saturday, as protestors gathered in around 1,200 locations across the nation. They were rallying against President Donald Trump and the policies of his new administration.
Audacy reported on the protest plans earlier this week. By March 29, there had already been 250,000 RSVPs to the events held across all 50 states, and the Hands Off! group running the events held a virtual de-escalation training for RSVPS.
Marchers in Los Angeles held up signs and shouted slogans as car horns blared in support. While Trump won the election last November with popular vote and electoral college majorities (unlike his first term, which he won without the popular vote), his approval rating has slipped to 43% recently, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that said “Americans soured on his tariff moves and his administration’s handling of information about a military strike in Yemen.”
Efforts from the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by presidential advisor and well-known multibillionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk that have included mass firings have already been met with protests this year. Signs criticizing Musk could also be seen among the signs bashing Trump this Saturday.
Per a Saturday report from the Associated Press, it was “the biggest day of demonstrations yet by an opposition movement trying to regain its momentum after the shock of the Republican’s first weeks in office.” It said more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists also helped organize the rallies. As of 7:30 p.m. ET, the rallies were peaceful, with no reports of arrests cited by the AP.
Reproductive Freedom For All was one of the groups that helped create the Hands Off! events. X posts from various chapters of the organization showed protestors at events in Arizona, California, Georgia, Nevada and Michigan. House Democrats in Michigan also posted a protest photo and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) posted from St. Paul.
“Thousands protest in downtown Chicago Saturday, describing negative impacts of Trump administration policies on themselves and loved ones,” said Brandon Ison of Audacy station WBBM Newsradio in Chicago Ill. “Issues spanning education, the environment, and medical care, to national parks, immigration, veterans services, and more.”
“Oh, it is such a beautiful sight to see over 100,000 patriots,” said Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) at the National Mall in Washington D.C. “So, I’m the Whip in the House, and I count the votes and make sure that we stay unified. And I want to tell you, you are putting on one hell of a whip operation here. You are not just saying ‘hands off,’ you’re not just standing up for your family and your community, you are the patriots standing up for our country.”