by Francesco Racco
Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington for a mass protest against Donald Trump policies. The objective stated by the organizers is ambitious: to kick off a permanent movement (“Hands off”, your hands down) capable, over time, to hinder Trump at the congress elections next year (the so -called “Mid Term” elections).
The anger of the participants, expressed in a flood of signs and banners, also hit Elon Musk, entrepreneur of Tesla and Spacex and ally of Trump, accused of exercising a growing influence in government agencies. “Resisting as if it were the Nazi Germany of 1938” and “Fascism is alive and well and lives in the White House”, we read among the slogans exposed on the National Mall, in the shade of the monument in Washington, during the gathering, promoted by the civic group Indivisible and supported by other democratic movements and parliamentarians.
The protest was part of a wider mobilization, with about a thousand similar events in progress in all the United States. At the center of critics not only Trump, but also Musk, accused of having created an unofficial “department for governmental efficiency”-nicknamed doge-without the green light of the congress and of having invested millions of dollars in pro-trump electoral campaigns, undermining-according to the promoters-the foundations of democracy.
“They believe that democracy is condemned and that the change of regime is upon us, if only they managed to take over our payments system,” said Jamie Raskin, Maryland’s Democratic Deputy and a prominent figure in the Chamber Justice Commission. “If they think they can overturn the foundations of democracy, they don’t know who have to do with.”
The gathering came after weeks of concern in progressive files, convinced that Trump was carrying out his undisturbed agenda, in the absence of a true opposition by the Democrats and without popular mobilizations comparable to those of his first term. However, a few days before the protest, the Democrats had celebrated the victory for a vacant seat at the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. In that competition Musk had invented, in vain, 25 million dollars in favor of the Republican candidate supported by Trump. This is to say how things go to America.
The protest was also followed by the launch of the amount of duties to the import promoted by Trump, who triggered collapses in international markets and increased the fears of an economic recession, as the Financial Times writes.
The event aims to encourage other American citizens disappointed by Trumpian policies to join future initiatives, providing impetus to a movement still in the initial phase. “We want to send a message to all the people and institutions who have shown early obedience to Trump and have shown themselves ready to kneel, that there is actually a public movement of mass ready to get up and stop all this,” said Leah Greenberg, director of Indivisible. “If our political leaders come forward, we will be by their side.”
Robert Weissman, co-president of the Consumer Rights Group Public Citizendeclares: “There is only one thing capable of contrasting the authoritarian moment we are experiencing: the movement we see here today”. Interviewed by Guardianhe explained that “it cannot be an isolated event, but a continuous phenomenon. Democrats have been criticized for their weakness in the congress, so protests like this will help them find courage. Even for ordinary citizens it is important: Trump’s authoritarian manual aims to believe that resisting is useless. But this event shows that resistance has strength ».
Several democratic parliamentarians present at the gathering have hoped that the initiative can stimulate new protests and strengthen the long wave that aims at a victory in the mid -mandate elections of 2026, when it will be voted for controlling the room and the Senate. “Here’s how the struggle for freedom against fascism appears,” said Eric Swalwell, California deputy. «This is not the last day of the battle, it is the first. On April 5th it will be remembered that the day everything came to life. Energy and activism generate other energy and activism ».
However, the parliamentarians themselves recognized that the protests in the square of sun are not enough. Countries such as Turkey and Hungary demonstrate how authoritarian governments can survive with waves of events. “We invited some historians to discuss the matter,” Raskin said. «They told us that in the countries where there was only a parliamentary strategy, it worked in about a third of cases. Where there was only a popular resistance, the success was slightly higher. But where the two strategies were combined, the victory has arrived in over two thirds of cases. It is not a guarantee, but a popular mass mobilization combined with an effective legislative strategy is needed ».
