Protestors gathered in cities across the U.S. to hold signs and chant slogans decrying Donald Trump's perceived overreach that has caused thousands of federal workers to lose their jobs and tariffs that threaten to spill into a global trade war.
But how much effect will the protests have?
About 25,000 attended the "Hands Off" anti-Trump protest in Minnesota's capitol alone, and political analyst Blois Olson joined WCCO Radio to analyze how much such events matter.
His take is that the show of force matters in terms of optics and perception of how much energy the Democrats are gathering against Trump's agenda.
But did they actually change anyone's mind? Probably not.
"These are partisan rallies and do the elected officials care? Yeah, I do. I think all sides care," Olson said. "They're trying to understand the public as well. But ... The idea that a party official in this day and age is going to show up to the opposite party's meeting, especially when they all play it so safe and wrap themselves in bubble wrap, probably not.
"There's not going to be any, you know, thoughtful engagement at a meeting like that. But yeah, they care about the mood. They're trying to understand it. And even the safest members of Congress start to worry."
Nearly 600,000 people signed up to attend one of the 1,400 "Hands Off" rallies held across the U.S. on Saturday. Organizers crowed that millions ended up attending, drawn by fears of Elon Musk's mass layoffs of government workers, anti-DEI and LGBTQ policies, Trump tariffs, worries about cuts to entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and more.
“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,” the event flyers state. “We are setting out to build a massive, visible, national rejection of this crisis.”