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President Donald Trump on Sunday downplayed “No Kings Day” protests aimed at his administration, saying demonstrators do not represent the majority of the American public and insisting he is “not a king.”
Speaking to reporters before stepping off Air Force One, Trump called the demonstrations “a joke.”
“I looked at the people. They’re not representative of this country, and I looked at all the brand new signs paid for. I guess it was paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics,” President Trump said.
“It looks like it was worth checking out. The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective and the people were whacked out. When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country,” he continued.
Crowds marched Saturday in major cities, including New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, for the second “No Kings” protest since June. Organizers said the movement was a warning against authoritarianism, while opponents argued the rallies were designed to undermine the Trump administration.
When asked directly whether the protesters accused him of acting like a monarch, Trump rejected the characterization.
“I’m not a king,” he said. “I work my ass off to make our country great. That’s all it is. I’m not a king at all.”
Law enforcement officials said the demonstrations remained largely peaceful despite concerns over potential unrest. In New York City, the NYPD estimated more than 100,000 people participated across the five boroughs and reported no protest-related arrests. Officials in Washington said no arrests occurred there either, although protesters did briefly spill into the streets.
The protests took place as the federal government remained partially shut down amid a standoff between congressional Republicans and Democrats over funding legislation. Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican-backed bill that would have funded the Pentagon for a full year as the federal government shutdown continued.
The vote was 50-44, short of the 60 votes needed to advance the measure in the 100-member Senate. Nearly all Republicans supported the bill, while all but three Democrats voted against it.
Democrats said they opposed moving forward with military funding without also passing money for domestic programs such as healthcare and housing.
“It’s always been unacceptable to Democrats to do the defense bill without other bills that have so many things that are important to the American people in terms of healthcare, in terms of housing, in terms of safety,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters before the vote.
