On a beautiful fall Saturday this past weekend, leftist lunatics held hundreds of “No Kings” protests around the country. Of course, anyone who plans any event on a college football Saturday is immediately suspect, but these demonstrations were beyond bizarre, generally stupid, and just plain weird. Protesters broadly and vaguely claimed they were opposing authoritarianism, threats to democracy, and oddly enough hate, but the only thing clear was they all HATE President Trump.

According to protesters, the primary reason for their “No Kings” protests was to reject Trump as a king, but if Trump was truly a king, he would not have allowed any protests, and all those protesters would be in custody somewhere. Other than graffiti and posters, the leftists and protesters offer no evidence that Trump is a king or dictator. If Trump was a dictator, he would not let the minority party shut down the federal government or let activist judges hamstring his policies with myriad ludicrous overreaching rulings, but Trump follows the law and dutifully files appeals.

President Trump is clearly not a king. As he stated himself, he “works his a** off!” What king literally almost never sleeps and works tirelessly around the clock for the American people? He jets around the world to end conflicts and bring peace, he busily negotiates numerous better trade deals and investment in American manufacturing jobs, he oversees deporting millions of illegal immigrants, he is singularly focused on restoring law and order and making American cities safe again, and in his spare time he is renovating and redecorating the White House. Some disagree with Trump’s policies, but none can deny he is a man of action and getting things done.

Contrast the incredible multi-tasking energizer president to the “No Kings” mob. The whining crowds were overwhelmingly old and white retread liberals; people of color were conspicuously absent. There was also the most ostentatious parade of crazy costumes and wild weirdos. With Halloween around the corner, many protesters showed up in all manner of costumes including inflatable animal and dinosaur suits which may have been the alure for more than a few “furries” to join the strange protests. Persistent, but patently unserious people.

Anti-capitalists, antisemites, and LGBTQ+ activists were front and center which stands to reason when one considers the “No Kings” protests were largely sponsored by the Communist Party USA. So, House Speaker Mike Johnson was accurate when he labeled it the “Hate America” protests.

“No Kings” protesters claim they are fighting for their rights, and they declare they are opposing authoritarianism and tyranny. They have slogans about due process, free speech, and upholding democracy, but when interviewed protesters were mostly unable to explain how their rights were being violated, or how Trump was being authoritarian. They can only offer broad brush claims that essentially Orange Man is bad but are clueless on what exactly he does that is authoritarian.

They moan about free speech, but no one stopped their silly protests or censored their unhinged social media posts. Yet, they will shout down conservatives and demand we be silenced for offending them by disagreeing. They scream about due process presumably about deportations of illegal immigrants, but all are subject to legal deportation orders. Deep State operatives and corrupt Democrats are indicted and will stand trial; they are not just imprisoned in political gulags or cancelled like Americans who questioned election integrity or questionable vaccines.

Unable to explain how Trump is authoritarian or trampling on rights, the “No Kings” crowd vociferously insists they are fighting to save our Democracy, because Trump is destroying it. First, the United Stated is NOT a democracy; it’s a Constitutional Republic – a huge difference. A true democracy is mob rule—whatever the majority wants, the majority gets even if it’s the minorities’ property and rights. A Constitutional or representative republic is designed to follow the will of the majority but not at the expense of the minority. A republic protects the minority.

Our Constitutional Republic operates on democratic principles, but it is not a democracy. Oddly, Democrat hypocrisy on democratic principles is breathtaking. They accuse Trump of being a king, but he won three Republican primaries and at least two presidential elections by actual votes. Democrats have not had a genuine primary since 2008. Obama was unopposed in 2012. Bernie Sanders was cheated in 2016 to coronate Hillary Clinton. The Democrat primary in 2020 was rigged to nominate Joe Biden and in 2024 Democrats just bypassed a primary to anoint Kamala Harris.

Beyond giving the creepy fringes of society an opportunity to parade through the streets, the “No Kings” protests did turn out millions, but their core message was not just opposition to Trump. The common theme was to not just resist but to fight by any means necessary. More than a few protesters advocated violence, particularly against ICE. They encouraged others to attack ICE and even kill them; and they are actually ramming federal law enforcement officers with cars and literally shooting at them.

The “No Kings” protests were mostly peaceful beyond some vandalism, but they clearly advocated violence. They certainly said if they cannot get their way through the political process, they are ready to rebel violently – they quite simply called for insurrection.

The radical militant left wing of the Democrat Party is out of control. They are holding the Democrat Party hostage, as evidenced by the nonsensical government shut down, but they are threatening more violence to eventually hold the nation hostage until we bow to their socialist demands for more profligate spending. Thankfully President Trump and Congressional Republicans are standing strong against this vicious extortion.

We have no king—only a duly elected president—but we have plenty of jokers.

“Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it” (Nehemiah 4:7-8).

Pete Riehm is a Navy Veteran, conservative activist, and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.