“More To The Story” host Al Letson interviews a protester at the “No Kings” march on Saturday in Washington, DC.Clare Conger

On October 18, roughly 2,700 No Kings demonstrations took place around the US. Organizers estimated that 7 million protesters came out to denounce what they described as America’s slide toward authoritarianism under President Donald Trump. One of the largest protests occurred right in the nation’s capital, where National Guard troops are patrolling the streets and many furloughed and fired federal workers are angry about the ongoing government shutdown. 

That’s right where More To The Story’s Al Letson found himself this weekend. Al spoke with a handful of the thousands of protesters who attended to get a better sense of why they came out. Some had creative posters. Others wore inflatable costumes. But all of them told Al that they were concerned about the direction of the country in a second Trump term. 

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“I’m here for my neighbors who are furloughed and aren’t getting paid even though they’re still working for the federal government,” said a protester named Sarah. “I’m here for the LGBTQ community whose rights are being stripped away. I’m here for my children and the future I want for them in this world. I want a country where we are back to kindness and love and treating our neighbor with respect and dignity.”

On a special episode of More To The Story, Al speaks with No Kings protesters about Trump’s immigration raids, threats to free speech, federal workers being fired, and fears about the future of democracy in America.

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This following interview was edited for length and clarity. More To The Story transcripts are produced by a third-party transcription service and may contain errors.

Al Letson: We are doing something a little different this week because these are extraordinary times. I’m reporting from the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the October 18th No Kings Rally. I’m standing outside the Capitol building surrounded by thousands of protesters. They all have their own motivation for being here, but the common thread is to push back against Trump and the administration. Organizers call it a movement rising against his authoritarian power grabs.

Sarah, what brought you out here today?

Sarah: I want to stop the cruelty in our country. I’m here for my neighbors who are being terrorized by ICE, families getting ripped apart. I’m here for my neighbors who are furloughed and aren’t getting paid, even though they’re still working for the federal government. I’m here for the LGBTQ community whose rights are being stripped away. I’m here for my children and the future I want for them in this world. I want a country where we’re back to kindness and love and treating our neighbor with respect and dignity, and I believe that we are taught to love all our neighbors, no exceptions.

I want to go back in time a little bit. When January 6th happened with the insurrection that happened at the Capitol. I’m curious, when you were watching that, when did you think the trajectory of the country was from that point? Did you think we were going to end up here or do you think we would trample down on that sentiment?

Oh, I thought it was finally the end. I thought we had reached a climax where people would realize the insanity and that we had an armed insurrection against the United States government trying to overthrow the will of the people who had voted in a free and fair election. And we had plenty of leaders on both sides of the aisle at that time who spoke up against that treason who have now walked it back. People who were brutalizing, police officers who were defending the capitol are now pardoned and I feel like things have gotten a lot worse, so it’s pretty devastating.

When you think about the Democratic Party, what do you think they should be doing or are you happy with what the Democratic Party is doing?

I don’t know. I want as much action as possible. I want as much resistance. I feel like somehow Democrats struggle to control the narrative and we allow the conservative right and their media to dictate the narrative. And I wish we found........

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