Like eight years ago, demonstrations will be held across the country in protest of Trump. [Getty]
Dozens of demonstrations are planned across the US to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Like eight years ago, protesters led by coalitions of civil society activists will be protesting Trump’s policies, including his stances against immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community, and women.
This time, however, protesters will also be airing their grievances against outgoing President Joe Biden, whom many see as a failed leader whose tenure has been characterised by high inflation and his support for Israel’s 15-month war on Gaza.
“The Trump victory in the 2024 election represents the complete failure of the Democratic Party to stop the rise of the ultra-right. In fact, they have contributed to it by adopting much of the program of the extreme right while embracing endless war,” according to a public statement by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), a protest umbrella group.
“Instead of responding to the needs of the people, both the Democrats and the Republicans have moved further and further to the right. Trump’s agenda is the culmination of this right-ward spiral, and his administration will move to make major gains for the billionaire class at the expense of the millions of everyday people in the US and across the world,” the group continued.
The group went on to say that they would defeat the political establishment “by building a massive movement against the ruling class and the political system that gives everything to billionaires while impoverishing an ever larger section of the population”.
Immigrants, specifically those from the Middle East and Latin America, are expected to be among the first targets of Trump’s administration. He has said he would bring back an “even bigger” Muslim travel ban, and detention camps have already been set up along the Texas-Mexico border in preparation of his promise of a mass deportation.
“I will never forget O’Hare Airport eight years ago, when thousands came out to defend and support the Arab and Muslim community in Chicagoland, and fight back against the racist and xenophobic Muslim Ban,” Hatem Abudayyeh, Chicago-based national chair of the US Palestinian Community Network, said in a public statement.
“Now Trump is back, and he is threatening Palestinian communities, students, and organisations, as well as undocumented Mexicans and Central Americans, but we are ready to confront the racist ‘border czar’ and other racist law enforcement officials, and we won’t back down!” he continued.
The main demonstrations, including in Washington DC, will take place on inauguration day on Monday 20th January, and ones in other cities will start this weekend and will continue into the following weekend. The inauguration ceremony itself will take place indoors, reportedly due to forecasted cold weather, though the demonstrations will be outdoors.
