WASHINGTON — Thousands gathered in the nation’s capital on Saturday, rallying and repeating one refrain: “No kings.”
They joined
thousands of other gatherings around the country organized by Democratic groups and activists to protest President Donald Trump and his administration with
a second round of “No Kings” rallies following an initial nationwide day of protest in June.
While many protesters spoke to NBC News about their dissatisfaction with Trump, a plethora of left-leaning and liberal protesters also made one more thing clear: They’re not happy with their Democratic leaders, either.
“I don’t have a lot of faith in the Democrats right now,” Alex, a construction worker who traveled to Washington from northern Virginia on Saturday and declined to provide his last name, told NBC News. “They don’t have — they don’t seem to have a lot of spine or a single message. They’re just too disorganized to put up a good fight against this bulls---.”
“It pains me to say it, but Trump’s goons are f-----g organized compared to the Dems right now,” he added.
Clark Furey and his dog Scooby.Alexandra Marquez / NBC News
Clark Furey, 40, who lives in Washington, called on elected Democrats to “throw some more elbows.”
“We’re just taking it on the chin, and we’re not speaking out,” he told NBC News while attending the rally with his dog, Scooby. “You know, I think we need to throw some more elbows. Unfortunately, the high road doesn’t work.”
Jenny Wang, left.Alexandra Marquez / NBC News
Jenny Wang, 35, who lives in Washington and attended the rally, used two words to describe how she feels about the Democratic Party at the moment: “disappointed” and “underwhelmed.”
Many of these rank-and-file Democrats aren’t alone.
Since Democrats lost the White House and the Senate in 2024 and failed to flip the House, approval ratings of the party
have dipped to their lowest levels in decades.
Scott, 45, who lives in Washington and attended Saturday’s rally but didn’t want to share his last name, said he felt that Democrats were almost as bad as Republicans.
“By and large, the Democratic Party is also bought by corporate interests, and they fail to stand up for the average working people,” he told NBC News.
He pointed to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and their
ongoing hesitance to endorse New York City’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Scott also pointed to
Schumer’s decision to support Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, 77, for Senate over military veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner in the primary there.
“You can see it in their lack of interest in the leadership endorsing Mamdani in New York City. You can see it with them trying to get an almost octogenarian [in the] race in Maine to undercut progressives,” he said.
Amanda Nataro, 41, at the No Kings protest in Washington, D.C.Alexandra Marquez / NBC News
Amanda Nataro, 41, who lives in Washington and lost her government job earlier this year when the Trump administration made deep cuts to USAID, said she perceived Democrats to be too scared about losing their elections to stand up to Republicans.
Democrats pushed back against the Trump administration’s attempts to slash funding for USAID, which Congress appropriated last year, before the Supreme Court in September
allowed the Trump administration to go through with $4 billion worth of cuts.
“I think all of them should be at home in their states at these No Kings protests letting people know that they stand with democracy. I think a lot of them are worried about holding on to their seats in purple states and their seats being flipped, and they’re missing an opportunity right here to show what democracy looks like, to speak out,” Nataro told NBC News at the rally. “I think they showed a little bit of backbone with the shutdown. But we could have done this in March. We let this go on for way too long before taking a stand.”
Many elected Democrats did attend No Kings protests on Saturday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.,
spoke to rallygoers in Boston. Schumer
joined protesters in New York. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker
spoke to demonstrators in Chicago. Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey,
addressed people attending a No Kings protest alongside Democratic National Committee Chair
Ken Martin in Montclair, New Jersey.
Despite their anger at Democrats, many demonstrators in Washington joined Nataro in acknowledging that the elected leaders within their own party have taken recent steps to fight back.
Many praised Democrats in Congress for their opposition to a Republican-backed stopgap funding measure that would have kept the government open.
The federal government has now been shuttered for more than two weeks, with Democrats saying they’ll vote alongside Republicans to fund it if GOP leaders agree to extend health care subsidies in the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of this year.
Anita, left, Lydia, second from left, and Lydia's daughters.Alexandra Marquez / NBC News
“I’m happy that they’re kind of holding their ground finally,” Lydia, 44, who traveled to the rally from Springfield, Virginia, with her daughters, told NBC News.
“I know the shutdown sucks, especially, like, my brother is not working right now. But, I mean, it’s very effective,” Lydia, who didn’t share her last name with NBC News, added. “It’s a very important thing. I know I can’t afford higher health care [costs] and I don’t make a small amount of money.”
Laurel Beedon, left.Alexandra Marquez / NBC News
Laurel Beedon, 79, who lives in northern Virginia and attended the rally with a friend, acknowledged that Democrats in Congress can’t take a lot of action while in the minority, but applauded their efforts to lower health care costs.
“They’re doing what they can against a unthinking, enabling Republican majority,” she said. “I do applaud them around health care.”
Many rallygoers also saw another glimmer of hope for Democrats in a new generation of leaders and activists.
In response to questions from NBC News about whose work they
are satisfied with in their party, demonstrators repeatedly threw out the names of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Chris Murphy, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, Mamdani and Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow.
“Let’s get rid of a lot of the old guard and bring in some fresh blood,” Wang said. “We have too many octogenarians and septuagenarians in Congress.”
