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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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As the country prepares for a second day of nationwide "No Kings" protests, a prominent minister involved in the organizing of the demonstrations has told Newsweek why it’s so importance for Americans to stand up to an increasingly "authoritarian" President Donald Trump.
At least 3,000 demonstrations in towns and cities across all 50 states are planned for the second round of "No Kings" protests on Saturday, according to organizers.
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In an interview, the Reverend Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and the president and CEO of the Interfaith Alliance, which has been involved in organizing the demonstrations, told Newsweek Saturday's protests were a response to what he called Trump's "assault" on the country, including the deployment of the military to U.S. cities amid an aggressive immigration crackdown.
"We have a president who is sending our military into our cities unwanted," said Raushenbush. "That’s authoritarian … We also are seeing people abducted off the streets in our cities with no due process. This is an affront to human dignity and that’s incredibly terrifying."
He called on faith communities to show up to demonstrations wherever they can, saying: "It’s so important in this moment, when we know that democracy is under threat because of an authoritarian effort by the current president, that faith communities show up and show unity and show the brilliance of our diversity. That is our strength, and not this idea of one king, one religion."
But he added: "We want everyone to come, and that includes people of no faith. It's not exclusive at all."
Saturday's protests will the second "No Kings" demonstrations, after a reported five million people turned out in cities across the country for the first round on June 14, which took aim at a military parade in Washington D.C. to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary that coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday. Those protests were largely peaceful, with a few isolated confrontations, including a vehicular assault in Virginia.
Raushenbush said Saturday's protests were expected to be even bigger, and he suggested at least six million people would turn out.
"The expectation, and I think it’s almost certain to be true: This will be the single largest nationwide public demonstration in the history of the country," he said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders have sought to cast the protests as anti-American, with Johnson calling a march set to take place in Washington a "Hate America rally."
Raushenbush hit back at that characterization, saying the Trump administration was seeking "to paint anyone who opposes them as two things: Anti-American and anti-God."
He said faith leaders attending protests "can reinforce that this is a peaceful movement, a nonviolent movement."
He added: "It's an old playbook for authoritarians to describe anyone who opposes them as hating the country and dangerous for the country. But the streets will be absolutely flooded with beautiful people on Saturday and from all different faith traditions as well.
"This is diversity and it's democracy in action."
Read the interview with Rev. Raushenbush below:
Why are these protests happening? What specific policies and actions of the Trump administration are they rallying against?
Specifically, there's an assault on our cities. We have a president who is sending our military into our cities unwanted. I mean, that's authoritarian, and so that's the reason. It's important to recognize these examples. If you look in Los Angeles, if you look in Washington, D.C., if you look in Chicago, on the front lines, there are clergy who are saying 'No.' We also are seeing people abducted off the streets in our cities with no due process. This is an affront to human dignity and that’s incredibly terrifying. We're seeing different branches of government being weaponized against the people.
You have to show up right now and say no and be a witness. And the truth is, still in this country, religious leaders have a particular role to play because these are peaceful protests. Faith leaders showing up can reinforce that this is a peaceful movement, a nonviolent movement. That's what's so important.
What's driving your support for the protests?
The most important thing is that we don't need a king and we don't need one religion. And I think that those things go hand in hand in America, the idea that we were established with no king … And also we were established with no one religion, which has allowed all religions to thrive. It's so important in this moment when we know that democracy is under threat because of an authoritarian effort by the current president that faith communities show up and show unity and show the brilliance of our diversity and that is our strength, and not this idea of one king, one religion.
So this is a moment for all of us to show up as clergy, as religious people, and say we believe in our democracy. We are going to be here on the front lines of our democracy and you know, religion has a special role to play because of the really important role that religious figures have played throughout American history in standing up to this kind of, targeting of communities. I mean, the civil rights movement, we look toward this history of the important role that faith leaders can play and are playing right now.
What's your message to faith leaders ahead of these protests?
This is about love. This is about loving your neighbor. That's the root of democracy. Democracy is people, and in all of our tradition, care about the people. Loving your neighbor as yourself is kind of this, you know, the golden rule or the through line, and our people are hurting, and so this is about showing up in visible ways, in peaceful ways, and let me just tell you, it means so much to people to see clergy there, to see faith leaders there.
This is so important right now, that we come with a message of love, we come with a message of unity and we come with a message of hope for the future, for our democracy, that we are not going to be isolated. We are not going to be torn apart from one another. We're going to show up for one another. And those are all essential spiritual messages.
Some Republicans have spoken out against the protests, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling the march in D.C. a "hate" rally. What's your response to those comments?
Show up and you'll see. These are peaceful people. Here’s the thing, there is a desire in this administration to paint anyone who opposes them as two things: anti-American and anti-God. And they use that language, Donald Trump has used that language: If you're against our political agenda, you're against God. And we're saying, it's just the opposite: It's because we love our country. It's because we love our country that we must do this.
They're just using a rhetoric. The more ominous or cynical thing that's happening is they want to paint us, they want to paint the millions and millions and millions of Americans who are going to show up on Saturday as somehow dangerous and therefore they need to … enact laws against us, this whole thing about antifa. I pray that they will not be trying to paint that so that they can make even more authoritarian moves, which is what some have warned against.
The other thing that's just important to note is that Donald Trump and this administration is severely underwater in popularity. Their policies are not making the lives of Americans better. That's another truth that's happening right now. And so Donald Trump is deeply unpopular. The Republican Congress is even more unpopular. And the context of our government is shut down because the Republicans who control the Congress have shut it down.
We're trying to say, don't blame us for your unpopularity with the American people. We are representing the American people. We are representing the democracy. We're representing America. And so I just think it's an old playbook for authoritarians to describe anyone who opposes them as hating the country and dangerous for the country. But the streets will be absolutely flooded with beautiful people on Saturday and from all different faith traditions as well. This is diversity and it's democracy in action. And again, my call, because I'm from the faith community and I am a clergy person, is that clergy people need to show up and we are and we will.
What are you hoping the outcome of the protests will be?
I think every time people show up for an event like this, they get bolder, they get a sense of their power, and their own sense of advocacy in their community, that they can do something about democracy. And so, there's no magical next step, but we have to keep on showing up and this is an exercise in hope that counters the despair that kind of constant authoritarian actions can beleaguer a population. And so this is really an act of hope and a vision for the future.
How has the Interfaith Alliance been organizing ahead of the protests?
Interfaith Alliance, we have a kind of network around the country and affiliates around the country, and they are all showing up. Many of the faith groups that we collaborate with and that we work alongside, are going to be out there in the streets. We had a national faith mobilizing call that had over 2,000 people respond.
in my personal capacity, I've been preaching around the country at large churches and small churches, anybody who allowed me. And really emphasizing this is a moment for courage and that we have a history in this country of faith leaders coming out with courage.
We've been pointing people toward the kinds of resources and training they need to show up, but mostly just giving people permission and saying this movement wants you, and that's really important to recognize. I was invited into the beginning of the organizing process by 'No Kings' because they wanted faith present because they recognize how important faith and what we can bring. And so many people come to these moments out of a faith perspective.
One thing I really would love to be conveyed is how much respect 'No Kings' has for faith and the people of faith from all different backgrounds to come as themselves. We want everyone to come, and that includes people of no faith. It's not exclusive at all, but there has been an intentional outreach and welcome to people of faith across the country to bring their full selves because America needs all of us.
Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
The most important thing for me to be conveying right now is that everyone involved in this effort is coming from a place of deep love and commitment to our country, to a commitment to peaceful assembly and that people of all faith traditions are welcome to come. I'm hoping that those of us who are clergy will show up and make sure that everybody knows that we are caring for our democracy and recognize that we are so fortunate to have been living in a democracy and how precious it is and what a dangerous moment we are in to potentially losing it.
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