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 grass roots opposition to the Republican president remains fervent one month after his January 20 inauguration.
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.”
Nova Calise, one of the New York City organisers, said Presidents Day was “a perfect time to protest the person that’s currently holding the title of President of the United States,” adding Trump didn’t share the values of those demonstrating Monday.
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 per cent, 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.
Anti-Trump activists took advantage of the federal public holiday, dedicated to US presidents, to organise rallies in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington and other cities.
On the streets of New York, Trump’s home base, demonstrators of various ages and backgrounds gathered in Columbus Circle, in front of Trump International Hotel and near Central Park, to voice their dismay.
The mood was festive, and the crowd grew to 10,000, according to an unofficial police estimate.
One of the protesters, retired psychotherapist Rima Strauss, wore a denim jacket with a button that read “Not my president” and another one showing a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin holding a baby Trump in diapers.
“He’s hurting our country. We’re losing our country if we don’t do something,” Strauss said.
“Trump won’t listen to us, but if ordinary people march in the streets, maybe we’ll have some kind of revolution against Trump, I hope.”
Qamar Khan, a 26-year-old medical school student from Pakistan, said that as a Muslim he wanted to voice disagreement with Trump.
“We are Muslims. We want to spread the message of peace and love, true Islam,” he said, adding, “I do obey President Trump as our president, but I don’t have to agree with his policies.”
In Los Angeles, protesters carried anti-Trump signs outside City hall, some reading “1. Resist 2. Impeach” and “Trump is Mentally Ill,” with the “u” in his name replaced by the Russian Communist symbol of a hammer and sickle.
In Chicago, several hundred rallied across the river from the Trump Tower, shouting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”
Several hundred demonstrated in Washington, D.C. Dozens gathered around the fountain in Dupont Circle chanting “Dump Trump” and “Love, not hate: That’s what makes America great.”
Dozens marched through midtown Atlanta for a rally named with a Georgia flavour: “ImPEACH NOW! (Not My) President’s Day March.”
Hundreds of protesters chanting “This is what democracy looks like” marched through Salt Lake City.
A small but unruly group of protesters faced off with police in downtown Portland, Oregon.
Hundreds of Trump opponents and supporters turned out in Rapid City, South Dakota.
