Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.
As thousands of patriotic Americans gear up to protest President Donald Trump’s authoritarian takeover of the federal government, Republican lawmakers have been telling dangerous lies about the “No Kings” demonstrations.
Republicans have been struggling to message their government shutdown, and a memo clearly went out to GOP lawmakers, urging them to blame the shutdown on the “No Kings” demonstrations, which the lawmakers have offensively deemed “hate America” rallies.
Everyone from House Speaker Mike Johnson to rank-and-file Republicans condemned the rallies and the people attending them, using incendiary rhetoric to demonize those who plan to show up.
“I think it has a lot to do with the ‘hate America’ rally that’s gonna be on the [National] Mall on Saturday,” Johnson said Thursday of why Democrats weren’t voting for the GOP’s government funding bill. “You’re gonna have all the antifa and BLM [Black Lives Matter] and pro-Hamas people … all the Marxists will be on the Mall.”
Of course, the people who will show up to protest are average Americans disgusted by Trump’s military takeover of American cities, his ignoring of court orders, and his use of the legal system to punish his perceived enemies, and his violent immigration arrests of anyone his allies think looks like they are in the country illegally—to name just a few.
We know that because there were “No Kings” rallies in June, which were attended by thousands of run-of-the-mill Americans who peacefully protested. The only notable violence those rallies came from a right-wing lunatic with a Nazi obsession who showed up with a gun to harass attendees.
Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, chair of the House Republican conference, lied about the intentions of the demonstrators—who are turning out to voice opposition to Trump’s authoritarian actions in order to preserve American democracy.
“They’re gearing up for their ‘I hate America’ rally this weekend—a rally where they’ll cheer for chaos instead of country,” McClain said at a news conference on Capitol Hill, the exact opposite of what protesters are doing.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso also said that protesting Trump means you hate America, using very similar wording to McClain.
“They have this big ‘I hate America’ rally that’s this Saturday in Washington and across the country where you have all these far-left activists groups coming to protest the president and the administration,” Barrasso said on Fox News.
“This is a ‘we hate America’ rally,” Republican Sen. Steve Daines of South Dakota told Fox Business as the network ran images of Americans peacefully holding signs at the previous “No Kings” rallies. “And the bottom line is the Democrats, the far left, are very upset at the fact they lost the election last November, President Trump won in a landslide, we reclaimed the United States Senate, we have the House. They are frustrated, they’re angry, but sadly, they’re expressing their anger and frustration by shutting down the government and hurting the American people.”
Democrats slammed Republicans for their lies and dangerous rhetoric about the protests.
“The notion that the ‘No Kings’ rallies is anything other than a patriotic act consistent with the First Amendment right to express yourselves and petition the government for change in policy continues to reveal that Republicans are clueless as it relates to the Constitution of the United States of America, or they continue to lie for political reasons,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Thursday. “There’s nothing more patriotic in America than expressing yourself, particularly when it comes to expressing yourself in a peaceful manner related to disagreements that you have with the government.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed those sentiments.
“This No Kings Day: Don’t be afraid to exercise your right to free speech. Don’t let Donald Trump or Republicans intimidate you into silence. Be proud that you are standing up for our democracy,” Schumer wrote in a post on X.
You can find a list of “No Kings” rallies near you here.
