Rachel Maddow

In Lantana, Florida.

Traverse City, Michigan.

It was absolutely frigid.

They had 2,000 people out.

We stand with Minneapolis.

And, you know, at every protest I've ever been to, every protest I've ever covered, as long as it's a protest that's happening in the English language, everyone I've ever been to or seen, somebody at some point starts up the chant, this is what democracy looks like, right?

We've all heard that so much.

It has become like protest wallpaper.

It almost feels like generic sentiment, right?

This is what democracy looks like.

But it is literally true.

It is what democracy looks like.

Peaceful protest is a core part of democratic action, small-D democratic action.

And the unromantic, strong, simple truth of the matter is that in our country right now, every small-D democratic muscle that we have is flexing.

And it turns out that that's way stronger than Donald Trump.

and way stronger than the worst designs of the Trump administration.

United, persistent, earnest, creative, peaceful protests that have not relented for a minute in Minneapolis.

Everybody from clergy, to professional sports teams, to unions, to school parent groups, to school kids themselves, to indivisible groups, to Native American activists, to people who had never previously protested a single thing in their lives.

I mean, every day, nevertheless, protesting, demonstrating, telling Trump's agents to get out, never giving them a moment's peace.

spontaneous, instinctual, and then ultimately organized mutual aid, community support, alerting people to the presence of federal agents, walking people's kids to and from school, dropping off groceries to families too afraid for good reason to get out of their house, doing Know Your Rights trainings everywhere, responding in person when people are being attacked or taken, not being afraid when Trump's masked agents turn those very things into life-threatening confrontations.