Thousands of people—mostly young women, some in costumes, many donning signs, and all wearing masks—marched and rallied Saturday in Washington, D.C. and in cities around the U.S. to voice opposition to President Donald Trump as well as his latest Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, and to urge voters to soundly defeat the Republican Party’s congressional candidates at the ballot box.
This weekend’s nationwide protest was the latest in a series of women’s marches that began the day after Trump’s inauguration in 2017.
Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March, told the crowd in the nation’s capitol: “His presidency began with women marching and now it’s going to end with women voting. Period.”
“From Denver to Durham to D.C., women sent an unmistakable message,” the Women’s March Twitter account noted on Saturday night. “We’ve had enough. We reject Trump’s agenda that doesn’t include all of us, and we will unite across our differences to vote him out.”
Over 430 marches, in all 50 states.
From Denver to Durham to D.C., women sent an unmistakable message: We’ve had enough. We reject Trump’s agenda that doesn’t include all of us, and we will unite across our differences to vote him out. #CountOnUs pic.twitter.com/GE40lq0n4c
— Women’s March – Text VOTE to 44310 (@womensmarch) October 17, 2020
In a video shared by the New York Times, women described their motives for attending the protest. Natalie Gates told reporters that she wanted to use her voice to oppose the appointment of Barrett to the high court, since Trump’s nominee “will affect my children and the future.”
Chants of “Vote him out!” and “Donald Trump has got to go!” can be heard throughout.
Another recording shared by the Washington Post shows evidence of clashes between women’s rights advocates and a small group of right-wing counterprotesters.
There were far more opponents of the reactionary agenda of Trump, Barrett, and the GOP than supporters. “I will NOT to quietly back to the 1950s!” read one protester’s sign.
A young woman from West Virginia named Taylor told a reporter that “I am marching because access to reproductive healthcare is a human right.”
“Women showed up in force on day one of Trump’s presidency for the first Women’s March,” Carmona said at the D.C. rally, “and now we’re mobilizing to finish what we started.”
“People need to get out and vote,” Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, told attendees. “Protesting is good but if we don’t take it to the polls we’re really not going to make the change we want and need.”
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Common Dreams | Radio Free (2020-10-18T15:18:35+00:00) 'We've Had Enough': Women-Led Marches and Rallies in US Cities Nationwide Call for Trump's Ouster and GOP Defeat. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/10/18/weve-had-enough-women-led-marches-and-rallies-in-us-cities-nationwide-call-for-trumps-ouster-and-gop-defeat/
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