If I could speak directly to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, I’d ask him: Why are you so worried about citizens gathering this Saturday under the banner No Kings? You and other Republicans apparently are so freaked out that you’re trying to rebrand this most democratic of actions—a day for people to stand up for democracy—as a “hate America” protest. Pathetic. The name isn’t sticking, especially when the people taking to the streets revere America. We refuse to stand by as Donald Trump takes a sledge hammer to the country’s democratic foundation.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said it clearly: “The people coming out [for No Kings] love America. They love it so much that they are willing to take to the streets to proclaim: ‘We do not ever want a king in the United States.’” Writing in his Substack column Today’s Edition, activist-writer Robert Hubbell calls the citizen response “the immune reaction of a healthy body politic.”

Across the country, some 2,500 No Kings rallies—up nearly 400 from June—will echo that truth. We rally peacefully in devotion to the Constitution, to democracy, and the rule of law.

By the way, Mr. Speaker, be careful how you throw around a term like “antifa.” Currently, you’re displaying profound ignorance about what antifa means. First, there is no organization in the US by that name. Antifa is an idea; it’s short for anti-fascist. Media outlets would be well advised to remind viewers, listeners, and readers every time the word is used that it stands for anti-fascist.

No Kings Day is a line in the sand. Let’s meet the moment. Let’s honor the republic.

Meanwhile, although in 2024 Mr. Trump feigned not knowing what Project 2025 was, he knew it’s the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for running the government. The 900-page report is a manual for establishing US authoritarianism. It’s the most radical power grab in modern US history, and Trump is following its recommendations to a T. Purge civil servants. Check. Politicize the Justice Department. Check. Concentrate control of the government in the White House. Check. Ignore congressional authority. Check. Induce the ultra right-wing gang of six on the Supreme Court to be a compliant lapdog. Check.

Project 2025 is central to what No Kings proponents are challenging: a wannabe monarch’s wish list. Analysts from the New York Times and the Brookings Institute have called it “a governing manual for an American strongman.” It is, in essence, a coronation script. Historian Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny, and an expert on resisting authoritarianism, warns that “most of the power of........

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