Thousands gather in DC to protest Trump administration at 'Hands Off' rally
'Hands Off': Thousands gather in DC to protest Trump
Saturday’s protests across the DMV were billed as the largest show against the second Trump administration. The so-called "Hands Off" rallies were held across the country, including one attended by thousands on the National Mall.
WASHINGTON - Saturday’s protests across the DMV were billed as the largest show against the second Trump administration.
The so-called "Hands Off" rallies were held across the country, including one attended by thousands on the National Mall. According to the various groups who organized all of this, there were around 1,200 rallies across the country.
Rallies Nationwide
What they're saying:
From statehouses to street corners, people gathered to protest the policies of the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency spearheaded by Elon Musk.
Organizers in D.C. said they thought the number of people here approached 100,000.
Musk says the mission of DOGE is to eliminate waste and fraud in government, to save money for the American taxpayer but those who came out on Saturday say these cuts are being done haphazardly, impacting people's lives by cutting whole departments, that the economic policies, like tariffs, have been harmful to their wallets.
A scientist from Georgia who just found out the grant funding her research was eliminated was in attendance.
"I think all of the things this administration has been doing to defund science, to defund the government are just deeply hurtful to so many people," said Gitanjali Gnanadesikan, of Georgia.
One woman from North Carolina, Kimberly, told FOX 5 she is worried about the potential for Medicaid cuts.
"I’m here fighting for a lot of disabled people, my neighbors that have some disabilities, my friends, my son. For a lot of reasons. For veterans and for seniors," she told FOX 5.
Another man says he doesn’t like what he perceives as instability.
"I have no clue what’s happening right now. It’s uncomfortable, it’s unprecedented and I want no part of it," Chris Smith said.
Big picture view:
There were many smaller shows of solidarity with people on the National Mall. Some people stood out for hours.
"We’ve never seen an attack on civil rights and civil liberties like we’re seeing right now," Gaela Gehring Flores said. "We’ve never seen an attack on our country’s democracy the way we’ve seen now, or the rule of law the way we’ve seen now."
Trump is not in D.C. this weekend and has not said anything on his social media channels thus far about the protests. The White House hasn’t said much either — their social media channels messaging on Saturday focused on the tariff policy announced earlier this week and how it’s good for America.