Defiant Democrats are embracing this weekend’s “No Kings” rallies, bashing the GOP’s attacks on the anti-Trump protests as an assault on free speech while urging voters to take to the streets.

“Showing up to express dissent against an out-of-control administration, that's as American as motherhood, baseball and apple pie,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Friday.

The pushback comes in response to Republican leaders who have spent much of the last week trying to brand the planned protests as “hate-America” demonstrations backed by left-wing extremists vying to undermine the country’s democratic traditions.

“We call it the ‘hate America’ rally that will happen Saturday. Let’s see who shows up for that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters in Washington this week. “I bet you you’ll see Hamas supporters, I bet you’ll see antifa types, I bet you’ll see the Marxists on full display — the people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”

Hardly backing down, Democrats have countered those broadsides by emphasizing that one foundational truth of the republic is the right to protest the government, which is enshrined in the First Amendment. With that in mind, many are not only endorsing the No Kings demonstrations on Saturday, they’re planning to join them.

“I'll be at a rally. I'll be holding an American flag in my hand,” said Rep. Pete........

© The Hill