'There are no kings in America' Sen Jeff calls out President Trump's authoritarian behaviour
Senator Jeff Merkley, who delivered a marathon speech last year arguing that President Donald Trump was behaving in an authoritarian manner, returned to social media with a fresh rebuke: “There are no kings in America.” On March 28, as “No Kings” protests unfolded across the United States and abroad, the Oregon Democrat said the president is not above the law.
Merkley, who was one of the many congressional Democrats who deemed Trump’s military attack on Iran as unconstitutional, shared a quote that resonated with the nationwide protests. "Presidents are not kings. Laws are not suggestions. There are no kings in America—not now, not ever," the Senator wrote on X. The post came as large crowds gathered across the nation and in Europe to protest against the war in Iran and President Donald Trump’s actions in “No Kings” rallies. The administration's immigration enforcement push and rollback of transgender rights were also among the lost list of grievances.
For the March 28 event, Minnesota took center stage to protest Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement, which has led to several fatal shootings, which Senator Merkley called horrific at the time, alleging one of the incidents as "another senseless execution of a citizen by Trump's lawless federal agents," KPIC reported. Minnesota’s flagship event drew Bruce Springsteen as its headliner, who praised the state’s people for taking to the streets over the winter to oppose the growing number of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents in the state. Springsteen performed “ Streets of Minneapolis,” the song he wrote in response to the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and shared that the state's pushback against the federal agents gave the country hope. “Your strength and your commitment told us that this was still America,” he said, adding that it was a "reactionary nightmare", and the invasion of American cities "will not stand," AP News reported.
Demonstrations took place in nearly every major U.S. city, with crowds gathering in smaller towns and cities as well. In Washington, D.C., people marched through the capital, and protestors lined up at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and filled the National Mall to the brim. From New York, almost 8.5 million marched to Driggs, a town in eastern Idaho, which Trump carried with 66% of the vote in 2024, according to the publication. The movement also spread outside the U.S., with people gathering in foreign cities such as Paris and London.
Meanwhile, GOP members appeared dismissive of the movement and criticized the rallies as disruptive public gatherings. The “only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. She further called the protests a product of “leftist funding networks” and alleged they have very little real public support. The National Republican Congressional Committee also criticized the movement, with spokesperson Maureen O'Toole stating, “These Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone," according to AP reported.
