Thousands of anti-Trump protesters across US say ‘not my president’
Demonstrations on 'Presidents Day' didn't draw as many as day after inauguration but message was similar
NEW YORK — About 10,000 anti-Trump protesters marched in New York to shouts of “not my president!” Monday, joined by others in cities across the United States on its Presidents Day holiday.
After a raucous first month in office, President Donald Trump returned to Washington after spending a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Miami Beach, Florida, which he calls the “Winter White House.”
The “Not My Presidents Day” protests aim to show grassroots opposition to the Republican president remains fervent one month after his January 20 inauguration.
The events on the federal holiday didn’t draw nearly as many people as the million-plus who thronged the streets following the Republican president’s inauguration, but the message was similar.
Thousands of flag-waving protesters lined up outside Central Park in Manhattan. Many in the crowd chanted “No ban, no wall. The Trump regime has got to fall.” They held aloft signs saying “Uphold the Constitution Now” and “Impeach the Liar.”
A rally in downtown Los Angeles also drew thousands. Demonstrators there called attention to Trump’s crackdown on immigration and his party’s response to climate change and the environment. Organizers said they chose to rally on the holiday as a way to honor past presidents by exercising their constitutional right to assemble and peacefully protest.
In Chicago, several hundred rallied across the river from the Trump Tower, shouting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”
Controversies over the property tycoon’s unprecedented approach to running the world’s remaining superpower are at full-pitch amid investigations into ties between Trump and his associates with Russia.
The 70-year-old political novice has raised eyebrows in Twitter postings, his preferred method of public communication that bypasses the nation’s media, which he calls “the enemy of the American people.”
He tweeted an all-caps message to celebrate the holiday, writing: “HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY – MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
With his job approval rating at a historically low 40 percent, according to a Gallup poll published Friday, the 45th US president is expected this week to work on filling out his administration’s top spots and rejigging his controversial immigration restrictions order that was blocked by the courts.
On Monday, he named counterinsurgency strategist US Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster as his new national security advisor.
McMaster takes over the post left vacant after Michael Flynn was ousted on February 13 after giving misleading statements about his contacts with Russia to Vice President Mike Pence.
Earlier in the day, the president played 18 holes of golf with Irish golf superstar Rory McIlroy at Trump International Golf Club, according to media reports.