NEW YORK, N.Y. – At least 100,000 people descended upon New York City’s Times Square on Saturday for the “No Kings” protest and Fox News Digital spoke to more than half a dozen of them about why they took to the streets to rally against President Trump.
“Because I’m an American and I learned from history, unlike a lot of other people in this country. History repeats itself,” a man named Ed told Fox News Digital when asked why he came to the rally.
“People don’t seem to understand that, and we’re going down a slippery slope, probably halfway down there already, and if we don’t stand up and protest and expand our message across America, we’ll be just another one of what Trump called the s***hole countries. That’s where he’s leading us.”
The rally was peaceful as protesters gathered in Times Square and marched down 7th Avenue holding a variety of signs, some more inflammatory than others.
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“No fuhrers,” one sign said along with a crossed-out swastika. Another sign read, “ICE melts faster under pressure,” a reference to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency where agents have faced a 10-fold increase in violence against them over the past few months.
“We have a fascist government in America abetted by a fascist media,” a man named Brad told Fox News Digital. “And people need to have their voices be heard. There’s this idea that somehow that Trump stands for America. He stands for nothing like that, he stands for hate, he stands for everything against the Constitution, everything our values are built upon, and he stands for himself and his friends and not for the great American people.”
A woman named Nicole told Fox News Digital part of her motivation for attending is that she is recovering from cancer and her husband was recently diagnosed with cancer and says she received a notice their health insurance would be canceled in July 2026.
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“So we can bomb random boats off the coast of Venezuela, spend all this money on ICE terrorizing people, so we can take food and health care away from families,” Nicole said. “It’s disgusting.”
Laura, who said she is from Seattle but was on vacation in New York City and decided it was important to come to the rally, told Fox News Digital of her belief that if people don’t “collectively” get the message of disapproval out “then we’re going to just give up.”
“We just might as well bend over,” Laura said, adding that she is married to a woman and is concerned that under Trump, that marriage “might not be valid anymore.”
“That’s f****** bull****,” Laura said.
Fox News Digital watched as a man dressed in yellow placed an Antifa sticker onto a street sign as protesters walked by. Several users on social media posted signs mentioning Antifa, which Trump designated as a domestic terrorist organization earlier this year.
Many of the signs at the protest used the term “fascist” to describe Trump and several labeled Trump and members of his administration as “Nazis.”
When asked if it’s fair to call Trump a “fascist”, Laura said, “I mean, he’s doing s*** that is outside of what our Constitution has said.”
“He circumvented so many of our government’s checks and balances. That, I mean, it’s just, it is ridiculous. Not to mention making everyone who’s in his cabinet, they have no experience, no intelligence, no like, consistency. They’re just a joke, so yeah.”
A man named Edgar told Fox News Digital that “democracy is at stake” while another man, Lenny, referred to Trump as a “fool” and a “clown.”
Large crowds gathered in major cities all across the United States on Saturday with anti-Trump protesters attempting to make the case that Trump is a king who has overstepped his authority.
The “No Kings” movement first gained national attention in June, when similar demonstrations were held in response to the Army’s 250th anniversary military parade.
Trump, along with Republicans in Congress in recent days, have pushed back on the “king” label.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump told Fox News on Friday.
Asked about the protests and whether National Guard units would deploy to manage crowds, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, “Who cares?”
