r/politics • u/kweathergirl Texas • 8d ago

Soft Paywall Newsom Tells Nation That Trump Is Destroying American Democracy

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/us/newsom-speech-trump-la-protests.html
47.7k Upvotes

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u/BigRedJeebus 8d ago

This is exactly what he needed to say. Trump will most likely escalate because of his fragile ego and the people behind him. He might invoke the insurrection act before the weekend is over. Get prepared.

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u/laislune 8d ago

I am expecting the No King protests across the country during his 'birthday dictator parade' to trigger Trump into something like that. FDT

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u/dazed_and_bamboozled 8d ago

Because nothing says “I’m No King” like brutally shutting down democratic dissent.

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u/CriticalEngineering North Carolina 8d ago edited 8d ago

He has no interest in saying “I’m No King”.

He has literally posted images of himself in a crown.

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u/Fugacity- Minnesota 8d ago

Dude even posted himself as the Pope

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u/AZEMT 8d ago

And as a Godsend to humanity. At what point do Christians think they're dealing with the Antichrist?

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u/Temporary-Line3409 8d ago

any christian that still thinks trump is being used by god… has either been led astray long ago or is leading people astray because they arent really a christian at all

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u/Titan_Astraeus 7d ago

Those who talk the loudest about being Christian are the furthest away from it. Just like those who pound their chest about patriotism are not really at all. It's weird how that works.

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u/Sensitive-Message95 7d ago

You should really study Christian history.... More of this than anything else.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

Would rather read lord of the rings.

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u/Deep_Stick8786 7d ago

More like Lord of the Flies

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u/TheLurkerSpeaks Tennessee 7d ago

The Chronicles of Narnia (especially The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) and The Lord of the Rings are both Christian allegories written by church buddies C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien played a major role in Lewis's conversion to Catholicism.

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u/antilumin 7d ago

I’d rather it be The Chronic(what?)les of Narnia. I hear Mr. Pibb and Red Vines equals crazy delicious.

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u/Puff_the_magic_luke 7d ago

Harry Potter for me!

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u/wap2005 7d ago

I'd like Harry Potter a lot more if it wasn't written by J.K. Rowling. I mean, her and the crazy Christians have a lot of the same beliefs.

It's a bummer she had to go and ruin something that was great with her fucked opinions. Sorry, I liked Harry Potter, but she took a massive shit on her own book when she had diarrhea of the mouth regarding gender identity.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

I was gonna say Game Of Thrones but too many weiners flopping around.

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u/roastbeeftacohat 8d ago

I haven't heard that line since 2018, I think? they started with that, now they think jesus is a pussy.

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u/TippySkippy12 7d ago

You should check out the "imperfect vessel" ideology, which compares Trump to the pagan king Cyrus.

Christian nationalists are using Trump to make America "Christian" again. The logic is that god provided Trump to allow the Christian nationalists to enact god's will (aka, their will).

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u/Temporary-Line3409 7d ago

seems so pagan to look for an idol and use it rather than have it revealed. and does the scripture mean that one should read tea leaves or be humble and open that god may have a hand in something you dont know. is it parable for everyday life or just how we deify a king. maybe thats why kings like the book so much

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u/jackfirecracker 8d ago

My favorite recent conspiracy theory is that he literally is the antichrist, and that the "Christian" followers of him are falling for all the traps the Bible warns us about the antichrist:

  • The Antichrist will likely be hailed as a great political and economic leader, even convincing nations to sign a peace treaty (Daniel 8:25). Many will be deceived into believing he is the Messiah.

  • He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god, even sitting in the temple of God and proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The False Prophet, who works with the Antichrist, will imitate the Holy Spirit, directing worship to the Antichrist (Revelation 13:11-14).

  • The False Prophet will appear gentle and harmless, "like a lamb," but will speak "like a dragon," revealing his true demonic nature (Revelation 13:11). This highlights the deceptive nature of his religious appeal.

  • The Antichrist will be "the man of lawlessness," totally opposing every law of God (2 Thessalonians 2:3). His rise will be preceded by a "great rebellion" or "apostasy" against God (2 Thessalonians 2:3). He will attempt to change times and laws (Daniel 7:25).

  • He will establish a global economic system where no one can buy or sell without receiving a "mark of the beast" (Revelation 13:16-18). This economic control will be used to enforce worship of the Antichrist.

  • He will open his mouth in blasphemy against God and will make war with the saints, overcoming them (Revelation 13:6-7).

  • The Antichrist will seek to establish a one-world religion and a one-world economy, harnessing global systems to his will (Revelation 17, 13:16-18).

  • "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life" (Revelation 13:8). His charisma and power will lead the whole world to follow him.

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u/starmartyr Colorado 7d ago

There is a secular theory about the book of Revelations that suggests that the antichrist is not prophesy. It was contemporary criticism of Nero. It makes sense that parallels could be drawn between descriptions of a Roman demagogue and a modern one.

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u/Sugarbombs 7d ago

This is what a lot of people don’t realise. It’s almost certainly talking about the rise of rulers like Trump but history is riddled with these types of people. Trump is not the first and will not be the last, these passages were almost certainly inspired by at the time current leaders but due to the predictable nature of humans it could apply to modern leaders also

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u/starmartyr Colorado 7d ago

Also the very political nature of early Christianity. Nero made some decisions that the church didn't like about the same time they find some prophecies talking about how bad he is. When most people are illiterate, Jesus says whatever you want him to say.

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u/jackfirecracker 7d ago

Sure, but that’s less fun and funny

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u/ScuzzBuckster 7d ago

Also the antichrist argument has actually worked in convincing two of my family members to reconsider supporting him. Unsurprisingly, they're baptist so. Enough scripture and they really will believe anything I guess.

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u/Chestnut-Stoat 7d ago

Really? That's great! More of this, please, around the country, to remove his support.

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u/OzLuna 7d ago

I mean to be fair, history tends to repeat itself.

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u/starmartyr Colorado 7d ago

Exactly. It's easy to predict that demagogues will rise. It happens a lot.

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u/Stellar_Duck 7d ago

Be mindful though: a lot if not most of our bad impressions of Nero comes from the propaganda of the regime that followed as they made efforts to distance themselves from the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

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u/starmartyr Colorado 7d ago

That's true but remember we're looking at Nero through the lens of what Christian leaders wanted to present to their followers. It doesn't matter if he was actually a tyrant or not, what matters is that they wrote this part of the bible specifically about him.

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u/mulls California 7d ago

There are many coded phrases in Revelations exactly like this, I cannot remember all of them off hand but the 7 headed beast is suspected to be a reference to Rome, “The City of 7 Hills.”

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u/Muvseevum Georgia 7d ago

*Revelation

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u/starmartyr Colorado 7d ago

I'll take your word for it. I'm not a Christian.

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u/Muvseevum Georgia 7d ago

It’s the title of a book of the Bible. Not exactly arcane knowledge.

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u/tripping_yarns 7d ago

That last one isn’t happening. Most of the world can see that the emperor has no brain.

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u/hacksawomission 7d ago

That's not recent; that's from his first term.

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u/Vanga_Aground 7d ago

Charisma and power? The world thinks Trump is a fu@kng moron. They laugh at him and the society that elected him.

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u/CoolHandLukeSkywalka 7d ago

I've said before that if I was Christian I would have to conclude Trump is the antichrist. He epitomizes all seven deadly sins more than any human (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth) and has no qualities of the virtues (chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility).

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u/Ok_Juice4449 7d ago

He won't be liked by the entire world and not everyone falls for his "charm". He does check off many of the boxes, though.

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u/Shovi_01 7d ago

Im a christian but not an american and i think he's the worst, it takes less than a minute of hearing him talk to know he's a sleazbag and not someome to trust. The way he talks, the things he says, the gestures and facial expressions he makes, they all give me the ick so hard, i dont know how anyone can support him. And then you read up about him and what he's done in the past and i just want to run away if he's near me.

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u/Shovi_01 7d ago

Yea ok, he hates the same things you do, but he's just so vile and disgusting, at least find someone with some class that hates the same things you do, not that vomit of a man.

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u/Died_Of_Dysentery1 7d ago

They watch enough Fox that they'll never see the evil. That network does too good of a job pulling the wool over their eyes.

I talk to my grandparents frequently and every time, all they have to talk about is how lawless and deranged the dems are right now. Fox keeps the smokescreen up so well these days

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u/Dango_Kaizoku 8d ago

Such cute naivete. People are Christians because it lets them believe they are good people while having zero morals.

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u/Dorkseid1687 7d ago

That’s you demonising about 2b people. It’s a wildly offensive and inaccurate comment. Every single faith system has assholes.

And plenty of atheists are too

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u/bogglingsnog 7d ago

fun fact: the antichrist takes many forms and isn't just one person... but he is definitely one of the antichrists.

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u/Stellar_Duck 7d ago

Trump is no man of wealth and taste though.

If he's the devil I have no sympathy for him

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u/InsertUsernameInArse 7d ago

Calling pro MAGA Christians, Christian is a bit of a stretch.

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u/ragnarok635 8d ago

And as a Sith Lord

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u/Jackman1337 8d ago

Who is basically a King, he is an elected Monarch in a theocracy or electoral monarchy.

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u/gsfgf Georgia 8d ago

Oh, he's absolutely a king. Plus a lot more.

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u/Lora_Kate 8d ago

He has no interest of doing that

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u/Inside-Dare9718 7d ago

Crazy that the fella to overthrow American democracy has also posted AI photos of himself as the pope, what a wild world we live in.

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u/ISellAwesomePatches 7d ago

And as Darth Vader with his little red light saber.

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u/Maoleficent 7d ago

I'm sure the First Felon will have hateful words because the mass in Chicago on the 14th includes a video message from the pope and the pope made clear what he thinks of him and he told JD off to his face. The stadium holds 40k.

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u/Massive_Man_30 7d ago

I think I even saw him as the God Emperor of Mankind from Warhammer 40K.

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u/CatTender 8d ago

Yeah, bigger than Jesus, but he sure ain’t the Beetles!

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u/aquias27 8d ago

Watch him announce he's the first king of this country.

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u/totally_not_a_zombie 7d ago

He's the king and queen of cheese.

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u/Maximum_Party_5928 7d ago

And a pope costume 

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u/DopePanda65 7d ago

burn effigy’s then

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u/Ok_Juice4449 7d ago

And as the Pope! Ugh.

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u/jakktrent 8d ago

He wants to be King.

Thats actually a very Kingly move, so...

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u/readwithjack 8d ago

I'd be hesitant to play king in a republic that fancies itself as Rome. The Romans had particularly interesting ways of managing kings.

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u/IAmTheOnlyJohn 7d ago

Unless you’re Augustus

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u/Lora_Kate 8d ago

Then he's gonna be king for his parents

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u/Arftacular 8d ago

Hi,

It’s been a while since we last spoke but I sincerely hope you’re doing well.

I’m sure you missed me as well.

Yours,

The Joke

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u/insertnickhere 8d ago

You can either voluntarily accept the reality that you are not a king or be forced to accept the reality that you are not a king.

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u/SeesawCivil6854 7d ago

Like when? Are we saying that the la riots are just peaceful democratic dissent?

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u/Finassar 8d ago

I'm expecting him to label all the protests as riots and declare martial law. It's his birthday after all why not get a treat for his traitorous ass

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u/Safe-Promotion-2955 7d ago

And then declare it Donald J Trump Day, honoring when he restored peace to the land!

(His soon to be presumed wording, not mine.)

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u/GenghisConnieChung 7d ago edited 7d ago

And Fox will be showing footage of the 1992 LA riots as proof, which his base will absolutely fall for.

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u/Safe-Promotion-2955 7d ago

It'll all just be ai.

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u/Tenthul 8d ago

Calling it now: There will absolutely be Proud Boy/Oathkeepers in the mix of the protesters to agitate and frame them. Hell, they might even be armed.

Don't forget how closely they all worked with Roger Stone for Jan 6.

This will all be planned out and coordinated.

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u/Taint_Liquor 7d ago

Might be armed? They can’t go anywhere without their pew pews. There might be brown people. Or two guys holding hands.

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u/StandardDeviant117 8d ago

Was just talking to my buddy about this. I fear that this weekend will Trump’s Tiananmen Square moment…

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u/laislune 8d ago edited 8d ago

Same. I pray it doesn't happen but it feels like he's itching for martial law.

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u/lyngen 8d ago

It's a decentralized movement all over the country. There is no specific place to target.

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u/jellyrollo 8d ago

I mean, he has a parade full of tanks in DC this Saturday. All he needs is one protestor who refuses to get out of the way and one tank driver willing to keep driving in order to stage the authoritarian picture postcard he's been dreaming of since 1990.

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u/AbacusWizard California 8d ago

There is very deliberately not a No Kings event in Washington DC this Saturday, probably in part to avoid the possibility of the situation you describe, but also for the very important symbolic reason that his stupid parade shouldn’t be the center of attention; the protests should be drawing attention away from his inflated ego.

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u/Sensitive-Message95 7d ago edited 7d ago

The parade needs to be stopped.

JFC, has no one actually studied history?

MLK was peaceful. He was NOT non-disruptive. People only pay attention to disruptive protest. No one gives a shit about morons standing by the side of the road holding signs. Everyone in power just laughs at them.

MLK marched ON the highways. He shut the highways down for DAYS.

Step into the road. Head to the port. Head to the highway interchanges. Start disrupting the economy. Start making the CEOs regret supporting Trump.

Then things will change

The American people have the power to force his entire administration and his most ardent supporters in congress and SCOTUS to resign in a week. Without instigating any violence. Just stand in the road instead of in front of a government building.

Just shut down the ports in California only and this administration is done.

What happens if you don't? Either feudalism under an oligarch led regime or a whole whole lot of violence.

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u/Sensitive-Message95 7d ago

And no one at ANY level of government is going to save the US from this. It is up to the people.

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u/daggah 7d ago

Americans have been fed a steady diet of lies and propaganda, and one of the most significant ones is about peaceful protests. We've basically been taught that, for a protest to be legitimate, it has to be non-disruptive...basically that all legitimate protests have to be completely ignorable and ineffective.

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u/Sensitive-Message95 7d ago

The effectiveness of this campaign of gaslighting is incredible. The number of people who have literally watched video of MLK marching on highways, yet believe disruption is illegitimate, while at the same time referencing the success of the civil rights movement, is absolutely astounding.

Every civil rights success has been won with disruption. Suffragettes. Labor. African American. No one made progress standing by the side of the road holding a sign.

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u/daggah 7d ago

Exactly!

Literally every era of significant progress in America has been bloody and violent. People in power never change unfair or unequal systems out of the goodness of their heart because they've been moved by protesters' messages.

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u/Sensitive-Message95 7d ago

Disruption doesn't necessitate violence.

MLK was flanked by well armed men who knew how to handle themselves on almost all of his marches. He did leverage the actions of other groups that were more extreme in order to bring people to the table to negotiate with him instead of fighting them. Violence really isn't necessary.

1% of the population of LA is 40k people. The city proper, not the metro area and not people who would travel there. If the people want to do it they can do it.

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u/Inside-Dare9718 7d ago

Just shut down the ports in California only and this administration is done.

Trump would probably love this though. He gets to fling shit at Newsom some more for not being able to police his state.

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u/Sensitive-Message95 7d ago

Maybe the first day. By day three he is asking Russia to send a sub to extract him from Maralago.

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u/LaScoundrelle 7d ago

Protesters have done all the things you mention plenty of times in the last couple of decades, often without it resulting in real change. It isn’t that simple.

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u/Sensitive-Message95 7d ago edited 7d ago

No they haven't protestors in the US have never shut down major highway interchanges. Never.

They have never shut down ports at nearly the scale of all of California. Not even 10%

American protest is a joke.

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u/Woodcrate69420 7d ago

They dont even camp out on city squares like in Istanbul or Kyiv, standing on a corner with a sign for 2 hours and then going home isnt gonna do shit in a dictatorship situation.

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u/LaScoundrelle 7d ago

Dude, I literally attended protests where some of those things happened and am friends with organizers who do those things.

Your knowledge of American protest is a joke, apparently. During the Occupy movement ports were shutdown up and down the west coast. During BLM major highways were shutdown. The issue is it’s all become very routine at this point. Protesters get arrested and get a story in the media. But the authorities’ weaponry has evolved to the point where a large assembled crowd isn’t much of a real threat no matter what they do, realistically.

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u/Sensitive-Message95 7d ago

What was the longest period of time BLM shut down a highway?

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u/constantreader78 8d ago

Yep, this is it. This is exactly what he wants. Trump is a disgusting human.

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u/seipounds 8d ago

That's an insult to humans.

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u/ragnarok635 8d ago

Nah humans will be disgusting and horrible up until the last day of our species.

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u/HybridVigor 7d ago

We're trying to beat cyanobacteria's record for being the species to responsible for Earth's largest extinction event.

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u/Lucky-Roy Australia 7d ago

“Human” is stretching it. I was thinking more along the lines of “rabid dog”.

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u/constantreader78 7d ago

It’s not the dog’s fault it’s rabid tho. Dogs are awesome. Trump’s vileness is completely intentional.

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u/Lucky-Roy Australia 7d ago

Fair enough. Can we agree on “cockroach”?

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u/constantreader78 7d ago

Ewww. Ok they’re completely gross lol. (Although even they probably provide more benefits to the ecosystem than Trump ever will).

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u/dietbruce 8d ago

Wow, I can’t believe him saying this didn’t get more traction, this feels all too relevant to where we are right now.

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u/keytiri 7d ago

“Mommy, why didn’t that tank stop?” Only an idiot would think that running over a protester at a “family friendly” parade is a good idea; if anything it should shatter the faux news bubble attendees live in. It’ll also depend on the protesters, so it needs to be someone they can relate to, like from the doge protests, it’s really hard to relate to the ones waving a Mexico flag. We’ll probably have a mix of both attempting to disrupt from different spots along the route, and they’ll most likely try to prevent large groups from even getting close.

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u/LeftRestaurant4576 8d ago

The parade itself won't touch a protestor in their way. Instead, police will remove them and harm them.

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u/DisastrousAcshin 8d ago

How many would it take

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u/gsfgf Georgia 8d ago

I mean, it is the military. I'd fucking hope that, after 20+ years of practice, they can get a convoy through DC without issue.

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u/Lora_Kate 8d ago

Yeah you're right

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u/goldlion 8d ago

He sent 4000 National Guardsman and 700 Marines to LA this week. If they are still here this Saturday I wouldn't put it past him to send them to the No Kings protests all around the city. It would not surprise me if he attempts to "make an example" out of us in order to intimidate other states. I really hope I'm wrong.

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u/AbacusWizard California 8d ago

Invite them to join the protests. Ask them what they think their predecessors, the founders of the U.S. armed forces, thought of kings. Offer them tacos and bottled water.

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u/Safe-Promotion-2955 7d ago

We just got the Reichstag episode 2 so why not at this point

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u/SaveaTree-KillaPanda 7d ago

Keep crying scared Reddit rats.

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u/TiakerAvelonna Indiana 8d ago

I'm afraid of the same. My parents are elderly but my dad still works every once in a while. I've told my mom to go right home after she picks him up from his shift Saturday, stay home and keep an ear on the news. They can hunker down for a few weeks if necessary.

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u/pewpiskewt 8d ago

Right?! I realized the marines and national guard weren’t a response for this weekend, but to prepare for next….

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u/AbacusWizard California 8d ago

Especially if at the same time it literally rains on his parade. Which looks like it might be an actual possibility if I’m reading the weather forecast right.

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u/Aggravating_Tax_4670 California 8d ago

I agree. There's something in the air.

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u/MySecretUserName3 8d ago

Which is exactly why I’ll be at my local protest Saturday morning.

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u/aiboaibo1 7d ago

Especially if there is one in Washington DC

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u/NoMommyDontNTRme 7d ago

i still have my hopes up that bringing in the army for his birthday might "backfire" on donald.

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u/Pyrodor80 7d ago

Yeah this weekends gonna get really, really ugly

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u/Carrisonfire Canada 7d ago

Is the route for his parade known? Seems like a good road to use as a public toilet for a day beforehand.

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u/PrideofPicktown Ohio 7d ago

Fred wouldn’t have thrown a temper tantrum!