I Went to the Anti-Trump Protest
VIDEO: People I interviewed were united on one thing I wasn't expecting
As I arrived at the State Capitol in Madison today, I was immediately struck by the sheer number of people gathered — the largest assembly I’d seen since moving back to Wisconsin last year.
Thousands amassed, and the crowd was eclectic, from Vietnam era veterans to UW students and professors. One guy was even dressed up as Luigi Mangione, hoodie and all.
This was nothing like the sea of blue blazers and politicians protesting in front of USAID and other government shrines in Washington, D.C. several weeks ago. And though everyone was there to protest you know who, I was genuinely curious to hear people’s thoughts, so I put on my journalism hat and went around posing a simple question: ‘What brings you here?’
People are pissed at management writ large, with those who run the country. Not just Trump or Elon, not just Republicans or Democrats, not just the appistocracy or corporate America, but all of them.
“This is like an everything, catchall protest,” as one attendee told me, chuckling at the absurdity of the idea that this was just about Trump.
Given the magnitude of the protests today, from large cities to State Capitols to small towns, the message is clear. People have nowhere to look but in the mirror to find someone who they think will save America.
Here they are in their own words.
“Luigi was very right”
KK: What brought you here?
PROTESTER: We're here to protest the mistreatment of the American people and the Constitution, all of our rights.
Luigi was very right when he talks about the parasites that are within the society, they are not at the bottom. They are those at the top, those that take and take and take from the rest of the people while giving very little back.
“Congress is doing nothing”
KK: What brought you out there?
PROTESTER: Just to help support the anti-Trump movement.
KK: What about Trump is it that you oppose?
PROTESTER: Everything. Mostly his denial of climate change. It's ridiculous. The world is not gonna, you, young people aren't gonna have a good life at all.
It keeps changing constantly, and it's all getting worse. We've reached a tipping point. The ocean can only absorb so much carbon dioxide.
The fossil fuel companies are using the air as a dump for the last 200 years.
KK: How do you feel about Congress?
PROTESTER: Oh, it's ridiculous. They aren't doing anything. we're afraid. They're afraid of Musk and his big money. Shrink government, ruin it and drown it in a bathtub — the right wing policy that they've had for 30 years. They're afraid of Musk spending all his money on primaries. They won't say a word.
“There’s no spine”
PROTESTER: 1,370,000+ veterans died in our nation's wars. And they all sworn oath to defend the constitution of the United States of America. And what's happening in Washington now is spitting on their graves.
It's incredible.
It's a good example of why the Democrats lost the working class votes and why 62% of veterans voted for Trump. There’s no spine. Nobody's stepping forward. Nobody's going to jail. There isn't a single person in Congress who's willing to go to jail.
KK: So you want to see more assertiveness?
PROTESTER: Absolutely. Absolutely. That's why Trump is what he is. He's, he's a surrogate father to a lot of weak-minded people.
So we gotta do a lot more of these.
That's what it's gonna take. And that's what it's gonna take to win the working class vote back. They wanna see backbone. They're tired of the woke speak, the peace, love, and tie-dye.
KK: When you say that the Congress is spitting in the face of veterans, in what sense do you mean?
PROTESTER: Every veteran drafted or enlisted takes an oath to defend, protect, and preserve the constitution of the United States against enemies both foreign and domestic. And right now we have a domestic enemy in the form of Trump and Musk; and Congress is doing nothing. And in the eyes and in the minds of a lot of us veterans, it's like spitting on the graves of those millions of Americans.
“Is this America?”
KK: What brings you here?
PROTESTER: Just like everybody else, man. We're not happy with what's going on.
KK: What specifically?
PROTESTER: Oh, come on man. There's so many things.
Honestly, the immigration, the way they're kicking everybody, out this thing in El Salvador. Come on man. How is that even something that's happening here in America? … We get somebody negotiated out of a Russia prison, but we can't get one out of a prison that we're paying for? Where are we? Is this America? Is it?
“We have to fight harder”
KK: What brings you guys out here?
PROTESTER: Where do we start, right?
KK: How do you feel about how Congress is responding to the administration?
PROTESTER: [Laughs] We have to fight harder. We have to fight harder.
“Get rid of them”
KK: Can I ask what brought you guys out here?
PROTESTER: Oh, we came to support the march and we're anti-Trump.
KK: What about Trump do you oppose?
PROTESTER: His stupidity, his claims about the handicapped people. When he made fun of that handicapped reporter, that was just pure — you know what I mean.
I am not a conservative, I'm not a liberal, but I absolutely oppose Trump and everything he stands for.
KK: How do you feel about how Congress has responded to him?
PROTESTER: What response? Well, I mean, there hasn't been one. He just overrides everything they do. So what good are they? Get rid of them.
“It’s rough”
KK: What brought you out here?
PROTESTER: You gotta be here, you gotta represent, you gotta stand up, you gotta say something … They can’t keep taking everything away.
KK: You’re saying what Trump and Musk are doing specifically?
PROTESTER: Yes, Trump and Musk. Because it's the fish is rotting from the head. Biden, you don't have to like the person, but he ran the country very well. Trump is just ruining everything. He's a monkey flinging poo.
KK: So if there was a list of things that you don't like about what's going on under the present administration, what's towards the top of it?
PROTESTER: First, his minions having the hands all over all of the day. None of those people are legally there. So I believe Trump is probably breaking the law even having them there. But their shock and awe program seems to be working. It's just too much. Where do we start prosecuting? … The will is there but the enforcement is weak.
KK: How do you feel about how Congress has responded to the new administration?
PROTESTER: It’s rough. I get why Chuck Schumer made his decision, and it's unfortunate. I really can't crap on him. But, God bless Cory Booker, huh? That was amazing.
“ I hope the Democratic leadership is getting the message that the constituency is outraged.”
KK: What brings you out here?
PROTESTER: It’s the theft of the country, right? This is the backsliding of democracy is a travesty. It’s anything that we can do to stop the robbery.
KK: Is this about Trump specifically?
PROTESTER: No, I think this is like an everything catchall protest. I'm glad to see that people are organizing. I hope the Democratic leadership is getting the message that the constituency is outraged. And if they hope to ever win an election again, they're gonna have to start freaking pull up their pants.
I'm here with my neighbor, Larry. He's a Madison native and this is his first protest. I think there's a lot of folks who haven't been mobilized before, but the chaos and the obvious corruption of Musk and DOGE … It's gotten people mad enough that they're gonna do that.
It’s radicalized the normie Democrats, right? All the people who wouldn't show up to protest before, they're coming out now.
KK: Larry, I understand this is your first protest. What motivated you to come out here for the first time?
LARRY: Because I'm really pissed about what's going on in government … DOGE, the cuts, Musk. Yeah, all the cuts, all the firings. It's not right.
KK: What do you think of how Congress has responded to the new administration?
LARRY: I think the Democrats are a bunch of cowards, to be honest.
What more is to be said?
— Edited by William M. Arkin
Good reporting. Thanks for doing this.
Let this movement grow!