Original air date: October 14, 2025

President Trump’s allies are suddenly raging over the October 18th “No Kings” protests. MAGA Mike Johnson and ⁠MAGA-fied⁠ Representative Steve Scalise are ⁠angrily sliming expected attendees⁠ as ⁠America-haters⁠, antifa, Marxists, and terrorists. Other GOP figures have ⁠done the same⁠, with ⁠one hinting⁠ that the National Guard should crack down on them. This unanimity of messaging about terrorists means it’s all almost certainly being coordinated by Stephen Miller. Yet it’s backfiring: Democrats and rally organizers are ⁠using it to galvanize attendance⁠, which will likely succeed. Robert De Niro ⁠amplified⁠ the call to turn out, inspiring ⁠more anger⁠ on Fox News. Indeed, the GOP demonization of legitimate protests itself ratifies the “No Kings” message. We talked to Jill Lawrence, who ⁠writes well for The Bulwark⁠ on Trump’s hatred of blue America. We discuss why large legitimate protests infuriate Trump-MAGA, why the correct response to their smears is to turn out in force, and why that’s likely to happen.

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