The coalition of groups that organizes the “No Kings” protests to denounce President Donald Trump and his administration is preparing to mobilize voters this weekend.
On Saturday, thousands of No Kings events will take place across the country as early voting for the midterm elections gets underway. The focus of the “Nationwide Day of Action” will be on voter turnout rather than strictly on protests. In some areas, people will march to polling locations to make their voices heard.
In an interview with USA Today, Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin explained that the grassroots coalition set the latest No Kings call to action for mid-October “because we believed Trump when he signaled again and again and again that he intended to sabotage the election.”
Levin did not specifically point to any of Trump’s actions, but he could have been referencing Trump’s efforts to restrict mail-in ballots through a U.S. Postal Service rule. However, the rule was blocked by the courts for now. Levin could also have been alluding to the prospect of a federal law-enforcement presence at polling stations this election cycle, but the administration has no plans to do so.
“How do you prevent the sabotage of an election using the tools available to you?” Levin asked. “Well, you vote like hell.”
“It’s all been driving towards ultimately an electoral showdown because that is the appropriate way to prevent an authoritarian from consolidating control,” he said. “It is using your democratic rights. And in a democratic republic, that means exercising the right to vote. And when your election is under threat, that means exercising your right to vote early in case there are any problems that might come up naturally or because this regime is attacking the right to vote.”
While Saturday’s No Kings events will be spread across the country, many will happen in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
The events will be taking place at the Lincoln Memorial, Capitol Hill, and Georgetown, among other areas in the nation’s capital. There will also be events in neighboring Virginia and Maryland.
The No Kings organizers say Saturday is a “day of nonpartisan voter participation” as many states across the country have already started early voting.
“No one person gets to decide our leaders before voters do,” the coalition says on each event’s signup website. “On October 17th, join us in local events across the country as we get out the early vote and say it loud: no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS, RESULTS, AND ANALYSIS
The White House isn’t very concerned about the No King protests ahead of the midterm elections.
“The fact that the ‘No Kings’ organizers are talking about voting in the upcoming election proves they should change their name,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said. “This November, Americans have a clear choice between President Trump and Republicans’ commonsense policies or the extreme Democrats’ radical socialist, open-border policies.”
Continue reading...
[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
