Dear friends and fellow patriots:
No Kings Day on October 18 was a tremendous success! The turnout was substantially larger than the turnout on June 14—demonstrating that the tide is turning and that we have seized the momentum!
The fact that millions of Americans protested peacefully with no reported arrests is a testament to the discipline of the participants and the skill of the organizers. We made liars of Trump, Mike Johnson, Sean Duffy, and every other administration official who maligned the loyalty of Americans rising to the defense of democracy.
Jill and I participated in the No Kings Day rally in Concord, MA. I had the honor of speaking to a crowd of several thousand modern-day patriots assembled on the very field where the American Revolution began in 1775. We were within two hundred yards of the Old North Bridge, where the Minutemen made the first successful stand against the British redcoats.
The success of No Kings Day matters to the future of our democracy. But it also matters to every person who participated in the rallies. We are living through daunting times. Many doubt whether their acts of resistance matter. They do.
As I said in my remarks today,
No act of resistance is wasted, and no act of resistance is unsuccessful. Because in resisting, we redeem ourselves, we consecrate ourselves, we reclaim our dignity, and we assert our agency as American citizens who control the destiny of our nation.
As always, perspective helps. During my remarks, I reflected on the nation-changing events that occurred two centuries after the Battle of Concord at another bridge—the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama:
On Bloody Sunday, as John Lewis lay on the ground with a fractured skull, it appeared that he had lost the battle. But with the perspective of time, we see that John Lewis achieved a great moral victory because he refused to give up.
Fifty years later, John Lewis would march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in triumph, arm-in-arm with the first Black president of the United States.
Finally, I noted that our path to ultimate victory will be punctuated by temporary defeats:
Not far from here stands a statue in honor of the Minutemen who fought and died on these fields.
The statute was erected on the 100th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord.
That statue was cast by smelting 10 cannons used during the Civil War— a war that followed the Battle of Concord by only 85 years!
The Minuteman statue is a constant reminder that no victory is permanent, that democracy is always contested, and that we must always be ready to rise to its defense—as you are doing today.
We are engaged in a noble struggle that challenges us to rise above our daily existence to do something truly remarkable: Save democracy.
We are meeting the moment, in every way possible. We should be proud of our accomplishment today, and we should use that success to propel us to even greater heights on the next No Kings Day—coming soon!
I have received hundreds (thousands?) of photos from readers who participated in No Kings Day rallies. I include a small fraction below, and will publish more in the coming week.
Bless you all! Get some rest.
New York:
Burlington, VT:
Atlanta, GA:
San Francisco, CA:
Fairbanks, AK:
Fairbanks, AK
New York:
Hartford, CT:
Littleton, NH:
Beaverton, OR:
Three generations of protesters in Santa Monica, CA
Portland, Maine:
No Tyrants Day, in Madrid, Spain:
From the birthplace of democracy, Athens, Greece:
Daily Dose of Perspective:
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