The Rachel Maddow Show
Anti-Trump protests sweep the nation, crossing the threshold of mainstream media attention
Tue, 22 Apr 2025
Rachel Maddow surveys some of the many "No Kings" protests that took place in cities large and small across the United States against Donald Trump's push toward autocracy, and notes that unlike previous remarkable protest days, this one was given prominent attention by major news outlets.
Chapter 1: What was different about this weekend's anti-Trump protests?
Thanks to everyone for joining us this hour. Really happy to have you here. You know, one thing that was definitely different about this weekend's big day of protest against Trump is that this time the protests got a lot of mainstream media coverage.
I don't know if the protests a couple of weeks ago were like a surprise to the headline writers and newsrooms of America's major news outlets, but for whatever reason, a couple of weeks ago, that huge day of protest was really kind of played down or just underplayed somehow in the mainstream press. That definitely turned around for the protests this weekend.
Headline, New York Times, shame protesters nationwide rally again to condemn Trump policies. Thousands of demonstrators rallied at hundreds of events on Saturday to speak out against the president's handling of immigration, civil liberties, job cuts, and many other issues.
The Times front-paged protest photos and protest signs like these ones, for sale, democracy, and resist if not now, when, and arrest the kidnappers. Headline, Washington Post, 50-51 protests rally small towns and big cities against Trump policies. Protesters gathered in hundreds of rallies across the country to denounce President Donald Trump.
Washington Post and its coverage front-paged a big crowd in Washington, D.C. at the Washington Monument, including this sign front and center, innocent until proven guilty. Headline, The Associated Press. Anti-Trump protesters rally in New York, Washington, and elsewhere across the country. Elsewhere is doing a lot of work in that headline, given how many protests there were.
But the AP front-paged this big banner outside the White House fence, Trump must go now. next to a sign that says, Free Kilmar, for Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. Headline, USA Today, nationwide hands-off 50-51 protests against Trump continue for second weekend. They front-paged this upside-down American flag in the foreground, hanging, of course, in a way to signify distress.
And then you can see the signs there, No King and Impeach, Remove, Imprison. Headlines, CNN, protesters denounce Trump administration in nationwide rallies while supporting impacted communities. Here's the Boston Globe, no kings, anti-Trump demonstrations around Boston invoke American revolution. Here's the BBC, thousands join anti-Trump protests across U.S., Front paging. This is a good sign.
I've only ever seen this once. Don't piratize Social Security. That's very well done. Here's The Guardian, which is also based in Britain. Protesters fill the streets in cities across the U.S. to denounce Trump agenda. Here's Reuters, the news service. Thousands of protesters rally against Trump across the United States. Here's Bloomberg.
Anti-Trump protesters turn out from New York City to San Francisco and, may I suggest, everywhere in between. Here's CBS News. Anti-Trump rallies held across the U.S. to protest administration's policies. Here's NPR. Protesters unite against Trump in hundreds of rallies across the U.S. No more tariffs on the sign there. Here's the L.A. Times.
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Chapter 2: How did mainstream media cover the protests against Trump?
Look at the big crowd in Topeka. This was Rock Hill, South Carolina. The Easter Bunny says, hop away from fascism. No more rotten eggs in the White House. Here's a look at St. Paul, Minnesota, where they turned out just a very, look at this, very, very large crowd of people to protest against Trump this weekend. Again, in St. Paul, they keep doing this.
And I could go on and on and on for a very long time with this. The first 50-51 protest, and again, 50-51 stands for 50 protests in 50 states on one day. The first one that they held was in February. It was mostly at state capitals. They actually had more than 50 protests that day, but less than 100.
Now, in April, in the same month, we had one day with over 1,000 simultaneous protests, another one this weekend with over 900 simultaneous protests. I mean, some of these protests this week—this month, we've seen tens of thousands of people, a few that topped 100,000 people. Sounds like the next one of these is not going to be on a Saturday.
It's going to be on May Day, on Thursday, May 1st, we shall see. But again, I think in general, what we are seeing is that more of the media is figuring out that this is quite a thing. This is not business as usual.
This is quite a thing that is happening over and over again at state capitals and on overpasses and on town squares and on street corners and in all sorts of unexpected places, including the reddest of red states.
My sense is that as Trump's poll numbers continue to drop, not only are the protests going to grow and spread, but they're going to get more and more attention as well as the dominant news narrative in the country becomes not just what it has been, which is the failures and mistakes and scandals of the administration, the damage Trump is doing.
But I think the dominant narrative in the country is becoming not just that disastrous behavior by Trump, but also the country saying no to him. and resisting him more and more and more all the time. And that's not just a vibe or a feeling, that is a granular thing that is happening. With these protests that we are seeing all over the freaking country over and over and over again,
And on the issues, on education tonight, Harvard University has launched its legal counteroffensive against the Trump administration. Harvard tonight bringing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for the way Trump has targeted and essentially tried to take over Harvard.
That counteroffensive from Harvard comes as faculty at the University of Michigan and the University of Washington have both just voted that those universities should join a mutual academic defense compact with other similarly situated universities so they can all band together to defend themselves as a group when Trump inevitably comes for those institutions as well.
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