Thousands rally in Louisville, Kentucky, as part of the "No Kings" protest on June 15, 2025.
"No Kings" protest in Hudson, Ohio, on June 14, 2025.
A sign near Burlington, Vermont, asks passersby to “fight like a mother” and invokes the “No Kings” protests.

PHILADELPHIA — Saturday, Oct. 18, looks like it will be a fine fall day for a liberating stroll in the city where America’s democracy was declared, defended and codified.

Thousands of people are expected for another “No Kings” protest, called to condemn President Donald Trump’s abuses of power while marching about a mile from Philadelphia's City Hall to Independence Hall, where our Declaration of Independence and then the United States Constitution were debated and ratified.

Organizers hope to exceed the turnout of June 14, when more than 5 million people marched in the first set of No Kings rallies. Participants are expected to use their constitutional right of free expression in more than 2,500 No Kings marches in Washington, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston and other cities and towns across the country.

There will be protest placards, chants about democracy and rousing speeches.

Does that sound like some sort of violent urban uprising to you? If not, ask yourself why Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are so desperate to recast his critics marching in our streets as rampaging criminals bent on destroying America.

Trump's attacks on protesters are un-American

Branding the use of free speech as somehow a hateful attack on a country that protects free speech is, of course, absurd. But Trump and his allies are leaning into illogical and overblown rhetoric as part of a larger, dishonest scheme to portray cities where Democrats hold power as dangerous hotbeds of violent insurrection.

That's the working script for invading America with its own military, seizing control and silencing critics, all with the 2026 midterm elections in focus. Trump knows a change in control of Congress next year will bring the kind of legitimate legislative oversight of his agenda that he fears even more than critics marching in the streets.

That's why "antifa," the moniker for a decentralized anti-fascist political movement, is now the new "hoax" for Trump. He has long and lazily dismissed any investigation of his behavior as a hoax. Now he labels any people or groups who criticize him as antifa. Trump thrives on division. It's always us-versus-them for Trump and his supporters.

They need someone to hate. And that makes them hateful.

Just consider what U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana who does whatever Trump orders, had to say about the No Kings rally during an Oct. 15 news conference.

"We call it the Hate America Rally that will happen Saturday," Johnson said. "Let's see who shows up for that. I bet you you'll see Hamas supporters, I bet you'll see antifa types, I bet you'll see the Marxists in full display, the people who don't want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic."

Republicans will call peaceful dissent violent. Don't believe them.

Speaking of foundational truths of this republic, the guys who wrote our Constitution listed freedom of speech as the very first amendment in the Bill of Rights. But Johnson is outraged by protests? Does he hate America for its free speech?

He's not alone. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, linked Democrats and the ongoing government shutdown to No Kings marches this way in an Oct. 10 news conference: "This is about one thing and one thing only – to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party."

So, criticizing politicians is terrorism, now? Does that make Emmer a terrorist for criticizing Democrats? Of course not.

But these guys aren't shooting for logic here. They're casting aspersions because they know how thin Trump's skin is. He abhors criticism as much as he craves abusing his power.

Trump routinely hypes his followers with hyperbole, denouncing his critics this way on Oct. 14: "They have the devil's ideology. ... They seem to become very violent on the left."

That's rich, coming from the guy who issued a blanket pardon for more than 1,500 criminals convicted of attacking police officers and trashing the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as part of Trump's failed bid to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

But Trump, being Trump, can't stay on his own message. A day later, on Oct. 15, he suggested that "very few people are gonna be there" while speaking about the No Kings marches.

So it's a hateful crowd of terrorists, but not enough of a pull to draw many people? Hmm. Doesn't add up.

Here's what's true about all this: No Kings is a large conglomeration of progressive activists, labor unions, voting rights organizations, religious groups, free speech advocates and more.

They're certainly not the kinds of groups that would back Trump for president. That doesn't make them anti-American or terrorists. But that's the lie politicians like Trump, Johnson and Emmer are trying to sell to the American people.

Don't believe them. Heck, don't believe me, either. Show up on Oct. 18, no matter how you feel about Trump. Take a good look for yourself at the people he and his ridiculous allies try to cast as terrorists who hate America.

Then believe what you see, not what you're told to believe.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thin-skinned Trump's sycophants call 'No Kings' protests violent. Don't buy it. | Opinion

Reporting by Chris Brennan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect