'No Kings' aims for record turnout in Saturday's anti-Trump protests

By Alana Wise People dressed as characters from author Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," were among the thousands who came to U.S. 41 and Daniels Parkway in Fort Myers Saturday for the third No Kings protest rally. Similar events were held in various Southwest Florida sites, other parts of the state and across the United States and the world. This is the third series of nationwide protests organized by the group, which says Trump's actions in office are more akin to those of a monarch than a democratically elected leader. In response to a request for comment about the planned protests, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed them as "Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions" and listed what she said were some of the campaign's "major leftist" financial backers. He says intergenerational solidarity is a key part of the movement and that there are many older people willing to take to the streets alongside their younger compatriots. "If you've been to any of the No Kings protests that have happened so far, you'll see a lot of people with hairlines like mine, which is to say, scant," he joked. "People of all kinds are outraged by what's happening in the country right now, but older people have a particular role to play here." Demonstrators gather along U.S. route 41 in Fort Myers, Fla. for the No Kings III protest rally on Saturday. Amanda Whittamore/WGCU Public Media hide caption He says that even older Americans who have lived through several presidencies describe the current one as the closest the country has come to authoritarian rule. "This is a very weird moment in our political history," he said. "Look, there have been plenty of presidents in my lifetime I didn't much like or didn't agree with politically, but there's never been any that I thought were fascist, and I think that that's very clear what we're now starting to deal with in this country." Politics Harris called Trump a 'fascist.' Experts debate what fascism is — and isn't President Trump has said repeatedly that he's not a fascist or a king and has previously scorned the protests. "I think it's a joke," he said last year of the October demonstrations. "I looked at the people. They're not representative of this country." He has, however, simultaneously leaned into the royal comparisons, even while mocking critics, posting an AI-generated video of himself wearing a crown. Visibility Brigade leader Dana Glazer, who is based in the New Jersey suburbs, similarly likened Trump's politics to fascism, which he said thrives when people are isolated from their communities. Coming together in protest, he said, helps combat that social seclusion. Glazer and other members of his group plan to protest Saturday in Paramus, where the organization was founded. "We are a force of treating people with individual human dignity and respect, and connection," he said. "And that's what brings us together. That's why this kind of event is powerful, is that people suddenly go, 'Oh wow, we have some power.' " He said he hopes that people will see events like No Kings and be inspired to peacefully protest even when there aren't huge events planned. "The reason why we're in this mess is because there has been a lack of civic engagement overall because people have been trained that just by nature of voting every two to four years that they're doing their civic duty," he said.