The Rachel Maddow Show
Fierce backlash against Trump's agenda seen in sweeping, nation-wide protests
Tue, 8 Apr 2025
From small towns to the largest cities, Rachel Maddow reports on the wide diversity of issues being protested in demonstrations across the United States on Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets to make their objections to Donald Trump's agenda heard.
Chapter 1: What sparked nationwide protests against Trump's agenda?
Thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. Really, really happy to have you here. So this was not one of the hands off protests that we saw all over the country this weekend. This was a different thing. And you will see the wind was playing tricks with people.
You mentioned 400 or 500 people. It's probably closer to 750 people, maybe 1,000. It's grown. You can see, really, like you said, as it's laid out, how many people are here marching. You brought your family here today. Why was it important for you all to be here?
Just like I said before, you know, we're all here. This is my nephew, and he's about the same age as that third grader, you know. I wouldn't want to see my nephew in...
You can see just how windy it is out here.
Chapter 2: How did a small town in New York react to ICE actions?
This is Sackets Harbor, New York. Sackets Harbor is way up on the shore of Lake Ontario in sort of northwestern New York. It's not that far from the Canadian border. And about a week and a half ago, immigration agents went to Sackets Harbor, New York, and they took three kids and their mom, a third grader, a 10th grader, and an 11th grader.
Three kids and their mom, they took them from Sackets Harbor and they flew them to Texas. And this mom and her three kids have been in some kind of immigration prison ever since. Yes, including the third grader. The population of Sackets Harbor, New York is about 1,300 people. But as you saw that local reporter say there, there were about a thousand people
of the 1,300 people in the town who showed up this Saturday to march in Sackets Harbor and to demand the return of that mom and her kids. This is from WWNY Local Channel 7, which covered the march. noting the children were students in the Sackets Harbor School District.
At this rally on Saturday, calling for the return of the family, demonstrators carried American flags and signs saying things like, hands off our kids and return the children. It was the local Democratic Party in Jefferson County, New York, that organized this rally.
We've also seen Democratic governor of New York, the Democratic governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, also getting involved in this case. She put out a statement saying she, quote, cannot think of any public safety justification for ICE agents to rip an innocent family, including a child in the third grade, from their Sacketts Harbor home.
She says, quote, that is not the immigration enforcement promise to the American people. It is just plain cruel. I want this family returned to New York State and believe ICE needs to immediately answer for these actions. The principal at Sackett Harbor Central School marched in Saturday's rally.
She said she was there just representing herself, not representing the school, not representing any union. But she said, quote, we graduate only about 40 students per year at our school. So we know every face. We know every personality. And we are missing them.
And I think what Sackett's Harbor shows, she says, is that when you rely on your community and you remember that your neighbors love you and your classmates love you and the teachers are going to be there for you, they're always going to stand up and say, I will show up for you. I will rally for you. I think that's how we get through this. She said that again at that march.
Again, that was a thousand people out of a town of 1,300 people. That was on Saturday. And now today, Monday, the school district made this announcement, quote, we are relieved and grateful to share that after 11 days of uncertainty, our students and their mother are returning home.
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Chapter 3: Which cities saw the largest protests against Trump?
Minimum estimates there, maybe 14,000 people. But just keep going. Huntsville, Alabama, Portland, Oregon, Davenport, Iowa, Charlotte, North Carolina, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Lansing, Michigan, Palm Beach, Florida, Phoenix, Arizona had a huge one. Providence, Rhode Island, Salt Lake City, Utah was huge. Austin, Texas, Buffalo, New York, Columbia, South Carolina, Indianapolis, Indiana was massive.
Sacramento, California, another huge one. Detroit, Michigan, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I mean, that's 20 of, again, you know, more than 1,400. Here's 20 more. Again, left to right, top to bottom. Upper left-hand corner, that's Baltimore, Maryland. Then go left to right, across the top, and then we'll go down.
Baltimore, Maryland is the upper left, then Pittsburgh, PA, Tampa Bay, Florida, Helena, Montana, Rapid City, South Dakota. Washington, D.C., the crowd was estimated at 100,000 people-plus. Chicago, Illinois is next to D.C. there. The crowd estimate there was even larger than it was in Washington. Denver, Colorado. Tulsa, Oklahoma. New York City, where it was said to be easily 100,000 people.
Honolulu, Hawaii. Boston, Massachusetts. Local press reports also cited nearly 100,000 people on Boston Common. And I'll tell you, the letters to the editor page today at the Boston Globe is full of people outraged that the Globe didn't give the event better coverage, given how huge it was in Boston. Then we've got Dallas, Texas, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Hartford, Connecticut, St. Paul, Minnesota.
That was a massive turnout at St. Paul, Minnesota, at the state capitol. And then the last two there, Savannah, Georgia, and Cincinnati, Ohio. It was cold and rainy enough in Joplin, Missouri, that people put their signs in plastic bags. And if they didn't bring their mittens, they put their socks on their hands to try to keep warm while they held their signs.
It rained like the Dickens as well in northeast Louisiana, but that wasn't enough to keep people at home. They just held their umbrellas and their signs. In Terre Haute, Indiana, people just made space for all the umbrellas and smiled through it. They hung tough through the rain. In deep red Naples, Florida, Organizers there say they had 7,000 people turn out in Naples, Florida.
And yeah, that's good weather, so I know, but that's also a county that went for Trump by 33 points in November, and they had 7,000 people turn out on Saturday. Detroit, Michigan, when people came out, they waved across the river to Windsor, Ontario, where protesting Canadians waved right back. People protested in Dillingham, Alaska, on Bristol Bay.
People protested at the end of the Iditarod sled dog race in Nome, Alaska. People woke up there Saturday morning to a balmy zero degrees Fahrenheit, but still people got out in Nome, Alaska to go say their piece. Look at the people turning out in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Look at the people turning out in El Paso, Texas. In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 2,000 people turned out in the drenching rain.
Green Bay, Wisconsin had a really big crowd. Look at that. Look at Statesboro, Georgia. So many people turning out in so many, so many red states. Look at this is Gulfport, Mississippi. Gulfport, Mississippi, they marched with a big Trump sucks banner. Helena, Montana had a really big crowd. So did Knoxville, Tennessee. So did Northwoods, Wisconsin.
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Chapter 4: What unique protest signs were seen across the country?
But also, I had guessed on Friday's show that the lady who was making the dump Trump sign, see on the back of the table there, on the back on the right, I had guessed when we showed this picture on Friday night that the lady making the dump Trump sign with the legs sticking out of the trash can, I had guessed she must have been an artist or an art teacher. Turns out I was right.
She is a retired art teacher. And she, in fact, got out there this weekend with gusto.
I am here to protest Trump's programs. They are hurting us. They are hurting our children. And before long, they will hurt the country. So we have to dump Trump.
You know, the thing I most want to be when I grow up is an old person. And, boy, am I getting there fast. But there were a lot of people out there this weekend who are beating me to it. And it was one of the most inspiring things about everything you saw this weekend. On the left side of your screen here, that's Montrose, Colorado. Hands off. One depression was enough.
On the right side of your screen, that's Madison, Wisconsin. We 100-year-olds see no future with Trump. On the left side of your screen, that's Harrisonburg, Virginia. Hands off Medicaid. On the right side of your screen, that's Houston, Texas. This old lady is pissed and fighting for our Constitution.
In Newtown, Connecticut, two canes and a quote from Senator Cory Booker's marathon filibuster this past week. This is a moral moment. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, they had a special protest just for seniors that you see on the left side of your screen there that was separate and apart from the thousands of people who flooded into downtown Grand Rapids for the big protest there.
Grand Rapids, not big enough to hold just one protest, one for seniors and one for a huge number of people in the downtown. In Flagstaff, Arizona, we had Good Dog, Good Trouble. And in Huntsville, Alabama, and lots of other places, we had dogs against Doge. In Los Angeles, we had some signs that made me really strongly want to know the backstory.
On the left, you see here, you know times are bad if you partner with your ex-husband to protest. And you know times are bad if you partner with your ex-wife to protest. These two apparently were married for 30 years. They are... Obviously, amicably split up now, but back together this weekend to protest the Trump administration. Also in Los Angeles this weekend.
I don't want to know the backstory to I Bite Fascists. Let's just assume that's apocryphal. We saw this. Penguins Against Fascism. This was also Los Angeles. No tariffs, no tyrants, just krill. This is a protest sign we saw several different places this weekend. This is Riverside, California. Honk if you've never drunk-texted war plans.
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Chapter 5: How do decentralized protests contribute to resistance movements?
We, the whole country, know that the people are not just taking things lying down. The people are now proving that they will show up and they will do it everywhere. And likely, frequently. This is a point that I haven't heard made all that widely in the wake of these protests.
But I think one of the important things strategically about the fact that this wasn't just one big protest in Washington, D.C. this weekend. I mean, it was a very big protest in Washington, D.C. It was over 100,000 people in Washington, which is a big deal. But the fact that it wasn't just Washington, that Washington was just one protest among many,
is actually, I think tactically, one of the smart things that the organizers of this weekend's protest did. Because holding disparate protests all over the country, not just one big protest in one place, means that people can do this again and again and again.
I mean, you look at really effective protest movements against rising authoritarianism in countries like Poland, where the population essentially rose up and took their democracy back through frequent mass protest. One of the things you realize about mass peaceful protest movements fighting against authoritarian takeover is that they have to stay peaceful and they have to be relentless.
They have to frequently, frequently, frequently protest again and again and again. And it is hard and it is expensive to get yourself to travel to some faraway capital to protest if the protest is always in the capital.
But it's not hard or expensive to get yourself to your town square, or to the downtown in the city nearest you, or maybe even to your state capital, even if you have to do it time after time after time. And when we have seen it work against rising authoritarians in European countries, And all over the world, frankly, it has been and the protests have been recurrent.
And I believe that is what we are about to start seeing in the United States of America, because this was April 5th. But it looks like it's going to happen again in two weeks, on April 19th. Saw you there on Saturday. See you there two Saturdays from now. Sustainable, repetitive protests.
peaceful, non-violent, big tent, everyone welcome demonstrations with, yes, kids there, also dogs, also old people, also righteous indignation and fear and sadness, and also music and funny signs and a determination to outclass, to outlast, and to ultimately put down a would-be authoritarian revolution. Persistence.
In Reuters' Ipsos polling last week, the proportion of the American public who said they strongly identify with the MAGA movement is 11% of the population. The proportion of the American public who says they do not identify with the MAGA movement at all is 52% of the population. In the Marquette University poll that came out last week, Elon Musk's approval rating is underwater by 17 points.
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