Trump Still Fuming Over Massive Protests, No Kings Leaders Speak Out

Summary

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IHIP News Podcast:

Episode: Trump Still Fuming Over Massive Protests, No Kings Leaders Speak Out
Date: November 2, 2025
Hosts: Jennifer Welch & Angie “Pumps” Sullivan
Guests: Ezra Levin & Leah Greenberg (Founders of Indivisible and "No Kings")

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the massive wave of “No Kings” protests held across the U.S. in response to Donald Trump’s self-celebratory June 14th event, and the outpouring of progressive, pro-democracy activism even in deep red states. Hosts Jennifer and Angie, both based in Oklahoma, interview Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg—organizers and driving forces behind the Indivisible movement and “No Kings”—about what made these protests so huge, the right-wing backlash, efforts to reclaim patriotism, and what’s next for the movement as America nears its 250th birthday.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Birth and Growth of “No Kings” (01:24–03:12)

• The idea began with energized grassroots opposition to Trump and accelerated as Republicans planned a Trump “birthday parade.”
• Actions referenced: Tesla takedown, No Kings President’s Day protests, Hands Off in April.
• Leah Greenberg:

  “Regular people have not been ready to bow to Donald Trump... we knew that we were building towards something big.” (01:33)

• The organizers expected energy, but were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and cross-country involvement, noting events everywhere from San Francisco to tiny General, California, and on every Hawaiian island.

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Red State Rebellion: Oklahoma and Beyond (02:23–03:12)

• The hosts highlight witnessing thousands turning out in deep-red Oklahoma—a powerful contrast to perceptions of the region.
• The movement was not a coastal or “blue state” phenomenon, but truly nationwide.

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The Right-Wing Response & Narrative Shifts (03:12–06:30)

• Ezra Levin:

  “They spent two weeks leading up to this talking about how we were going to be violent Marxists... then we had the largest peaceful protest in modern American history... and now what they've settled on is [that it] didn’t exist, wasn’t real.” (03:12)

• The Trump administration and right-wing media moved through a sequence: first demonizing the protesters as violent, then weird, then irrelevant, finally pretending the protests did not happen at all.
• Ezra Levin:

  “An authoritarian regime depends on one thing, making you feel alone and isolated and powerless.” (04:27)

Notable Quote

• Ezra Levin:

  “They’re between an Iraq and a hard place, right?” (04:14)

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The “Paid Protestor” Smear and Its Ironic Backfire (04:55–06:30)

• Hosts and guests discuss the persistent right-wing claim that protesters are “paid agitators,” and how laughable—and telling—that is.
• Leah Greenberg:

  “What it does is it persuades your side that there is not something very serious happening... They are just dismissing massive popular opposition... [which] always backfires, usually in the form of an election.” (05:48)

• Protesters reported feeling deeply patriotic, far more than at any right-wing event, united in the defense of democracy.

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Reclaiming Patriotism & Symbols (06:30–08:55)

• Concerns over how the right has monopolized patriotic imagery, and the left’s need to reclaim the American flag and national pride.
• Ezra Levin:

  “We should claim it... We led [the Philly rally] with 100,000 people protesting monarchical rule, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance... God, it felt good.” (06:30)

• Ezra Levin:

  “MAGAs not our country... We are protecting our country. We are organizing for our country.” (07:08)

• The discussion includes the irony of those undermining constitutional rights parading as super-patriots. The left’s challenge: own patriotic symbols in service of real democracy and inclusion.
• Ezra Levin:

  “Take back the American flag. Let's celebrate our history... loving America so much that they demand more of it.” (08:21)

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What’s Next for “No Kings”: From Protest to Ongoing Action (08:55–10:25)

• Introduction of the No Kings Alliance—a new organizing hub for regular, actionable resistance.
• Weekly local actions include protecting communities from ICE, fighting cuts to public benefits, and pressuring politicians.
• Leah Greenberg:

  “The first thing we are doing is helping people who are being hurt by the coming SNAP cuts... we gotta organize locally to get the electeds who are actually going to represent and fight for us in office.” (09:07)

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Corporate Capitulation and Economic Resistance (10:25–12:49)

• Discussion of companies like Spotify and Disney as “enablers” of authoritarian drift by running ads or bending to regime pressure.
• Example: Disney/Kimmel protest campaign—1.7 million Disney+ cancellations as organized pushback.
• Ezra Levin:

  “If you were listening to Spotify right now, you are helping fund the recruitment of a secret police force that is terrorizing American communities.” (10:59)

• The economic pressure campaign is framed as critical to building a “culture of defiance” and preventing further authoritarian consolidation.
• Ezra Levin:

  “What that looks like is the growth of a major national pro-democracy movement that's going to be able to protect our election results when they try to steal them next year.” (12:29)

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Mass Mobilization and Grassroots Leadership (13:18–14:03)

• Ezra and Leah underscore the bottom-up nature of the movement.
• Ezra Levin:

  “We are not the leaders of this... There are millions of people who are out there leading and this is very much bottom up. So if somebody is listening to this and it's like, oh, I'm glad somebody has it. Nuh, you've got it. Start organizing.” (13:18)

• The resistance and democracy defense effort is not about waiting for leaders, but everyone taking responsibility and linking arms.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Ezra Levin (on shifting right-wing narratives):

  “First we were violent Marxists, and then we were weirdos, and then we were old fogies, and now what they've settled on is didn't happen, didn't exist, wasn't real.” (03:27)

• Leah Greenberg:

  “They are just dismissing massive popular opposition as some kind of fake situation... Always backfires, usually in the form of an election.” (05:58)

• Ezra Levin:

  “It's bullshit. We should not see[d] that ground. We should claim it.” (06:34)

• Ezra Levin:

  “Take back the American flag. Let's celebrate our history... loving America so much that they demand more of it.” (08:21)

• Ezra Levin (on economic resistance):

  “We showed with Disney what's possible... what that creates, it creates a culture of defiance. It prevents the regime from concentrating control.” (11:25)

• Ezra Levin (call to action):

  “Nuh, you’ve got it. This is your message. Start organizing. Reach out to your community... But find your local group and get to work.” (13:22)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:24] – Origins and unexpected scale of “No Kings”
• [03:12] – Administration’s narrative war & largest peaceful protest in U.S. history
• [05:48] – “Paid protestor” smear tactic backfires
• [06:30] – Patriotic pride and flag reclamation at protests
• [09:07] – No Kings Alliance: from moments to movement
• [10:59] – Economic organizing & boycotts: Disney, Spotify, and beyond
• [13:18] – Bottom-up leadership call and practical advice

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Conclusion

This episode offers a vibrant, hopeful look at grassroots activism’s power to resist authoritarianism, reclaim American values, and mobilize for real democracy—even from within red states. Listeners are encouraged to join ongoing action—be it local organizing, supporting threatened neighbors, or taking part in consumer boycotts—to sustain the momentum and protect upcoming elections. The tone is witty, direct, unvarnished, and deeply motivational, aiming to galvanize all who want democracy to thrive.

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Helpful links mentioned:

• nokingsalliance.com
• indivisible.org
• nokings.org

Transcript

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[Ezra Levin]

Foreign.

[Interviewer]

The founders of Indivisible and the people that brought you no Kings who have been credited with everything the Republican Party hates, please join me in welcoming Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg.

[Sarah Gibson Tuttle]

Great.

[Ezra Levin]

Hey, great to be talking. Welcome.

[Interviewer]

In your wildest dreams, when you started this idea of no kings, did you imagine the response would be this great?

[Leah Greenberg]

Well, we knew that we have been building on energy that has been here really since the beginning of the year. You know, regular people had none of this capitulation. Regular people have not been ready to bow to Donald Trump. And so from the beginning of this year with Tesla takedown with no Kings on President's Day protests with hands off in April, we knew that we were building towards something big. And then when we heard about Donald Trump, Donald Trump's party that he was going to have for himself on June 14, we knew this was a moment to start to pull everybody together who could collectively say, no, this is ridiculous. We're not going to have an authoritarian strongman. We're not okay with anything that's going on. And we knew that this was the moment to pull them together under that banner of no Kings. So we couldn't possibly expect how many people were going to come out, but we knew that there was energy there because we've been hearing from those folks all over the country all year.

[Interviewer]

What's so funny is I live in Oklahoma City, so the birthday parade, which was a complete disaster, which I loved, but you're in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and there were tens of thousands of people in an extremely Red state that were like, this is not democracy. This is not who we are. And so it was just. It was a brilliant juxtaposition to the absolute disaster that was. And I know how successful this is because at the last rally, Jennifer was in New York, I was in Houston visiting my sons. And again, it was just packed with people. And what tells me how effective this is, as much as being boots on the ground and observing it personally, has been the response on the right from the Trump administration. Can you guys talk a little bit about that?

[Ezra Levin]

Look, they spent two weeks leading up to this talking about how we were going to be violent Marxists. This was going to be disaster. They painted this image that, like, America is at each other's throats, that it's red America versus blue America, that it's Trump America versus everybody else. And. And then, lo and behold, we had the largest peaceful protest in modern American history, actually, in all of American history. You can go to Wikipedia and look at it. 2700 events, 7 million people out all over the globe. Like you said, Oklahoma City. Yeah, it's in big blue cities, it's in San Francisco, it's in la, it's in a. A, you know, in Austin. But it's also in General California, population 122. There's. There was an event on every single island of Hawaii. Four on the Big island, there are 15 in Alaska. I mean, this is every. And so it's been interesting to see them turn themselves into pretzels, trying to figure out, how do you message this? Because, right, an authoritarian regime depends on one thing, making you feel alone and isolated and powerless. They're not powerful, they're not strong. They want you to think you're weak. And so to have the largest peaceful protest in history. They're between an Iraq and a hard place, Right. They're trying to figure out, God, how do we say this? So first we were violent Marxists, and then we were weirdos, and then we were old fogies, and now what they've settled on is didn't happen, didn't exist, wasn't real. That's what they're trying to pretend, right? And it is such. It's such a sign of how important this is to demonstrate that we're not afraid to stand up to an authoritarian regime. We're not afraid to reach out to our community members, and it's a major threat to their political project, which is maximizing power in their hands and making us feel alone and powerless so that they can run roughshod over us.

[Interviewer]

Pathetic response it has been a pathetic response. I'm sorry to interrupt you. I was just going to say what I found so interesting about the response. Obviously the name calling, that's to be expected. These people have no decency in their bullies. But when they kept saying, this is antifa, they're paid. I'm just like, if there was an antifa organization where I could get a membership card, sign me up, I'm anti fascist, proudly. But them kept saying, you have to be paid to do this. These are paid agitators. That kind of, to me was a surprising look into the souls of the people on that side because from the comments that I've seen and the people that I met, people felt more patriotic at those protests, being with other people like them than they do ever when, you know, it was a real feeling of fighting for democracy. Did you all also feel that?

[Leah Greenberg]

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think that is the. That's the sentiment that we're going to tap into going forward. But I also think with the paid protesters, piece of this, you know, this is a classic attack. They do it on people showing up at town halls, they do it on people showing up at rallies or protests. They've been doing this as long as indivisible has been in existence. And the interesting thing about it is it always backfires. Because what it does is it persuades your side that there is not something very serious happening that they need to take seriously and adapt to. Right? They are just dismissing massive popular opposition as some kind of weird fake situation that they don't need to seriously factor into their own strategy and considerations. Always backfires, usually in the form of an election.

[Ezra Levin]

Just to pick up on that patriotic element, though, I think it's very real. I do think folks on the left have ceded ground too much to the folks on the right so that they somehow, like, they own the flag, they own patriotism. It's bullshit. It is bullshit. We should not see that ground. We should claim it. Lee and I closed out the Pennsylvania, the Philly rally with 100,000 people back in June. And it was this incredible sight of people waving American flags. And we led them in a to. To recite the Pledge of Allegiance. So you had 100,000 people protesting monarchical rule, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. God, it felt good. It felt good that we can actually celebrate. Hey, no, that's not our country. MAGA is not our country. This regime is our country. We are protecting our country. We are organizing for our country. And I think as we head in the 250th anniversary of the founding of this republic.

[Leah Greenberg]

We.

[Ezra Levin]

We should embrace that. We should not seed that ground. And they're going to try to take it. We shouldn't let them.

[Interviewer]

No, I completely agree because I'm like, you have a movement that is going against every single thing in the Constitution. They're trying to get rid of civil assembly speech books. They're trying to take away the opportunity who of people who were born in this country. I mean, they're going so far in to crumple up the Constitution, yet they claim to be patriots. And so I'm with you. When I see, like I said, I live in Oklahoma. And so when I see like trucks with American flag on it, it kind of gives me the cringes because I'm like, you're anti Constitution. You're doing all the outward signs, but you're really. You don't care about the Constitution or you would believe in democracy. And it was a way to unite people in service of the flag. Because I consider myself patriotic, but it's kind of cringed me out when it comes to maga, and that's. That's a tough spot for an American to be in, really.

[Ezra Levin]

We just got to own it. Take back that Gatson flag. Take back the Don't Tread on Me flag. Take back the American flag. Let's celebrate our history. Let's celebrate the abolitionists. Let's celebrate the suffragists. Let's celebrate the civil rights leaders. Let's celebrate the leaders at Stonewall. Like, we have a rich history of people trying to make this country better, doing in the most patriotic way they can, loving America so much that they demand more of it that. That we demand that it lives up to our deals. The movement right now that is rising up against would be monarchical rule follows in that tradition. We got to own that, though, and welcome people into the movement.

[Interviewer]

I completely agree. Tell us what's coming up, because like you said, we've got a birthday party for the 250s coming up at this summer. And I can't help but think that you all have done some planning in that regard.

[Leah Greenberg]

Well, the first thing that we are doing right now is we are asking everybody who showed up for no Kings to get out there and support their communities. We've actually, we launched something called the no Kings alliance, which is going to be an ongoing way to ask people to take regular action. If you are inspired by no Kings show up, take the weekly action that is going to help us to build for the longer haul. We're going to have more mobilizations in the future. But we got a lot of work to do right now. We got to protect our communities against ice. We got to help people who are hurt by these enormous federal government cuts and by these attacks on health care. We got to organize locally to get the electeds who are actually going to represent and fight for us in office. And so we've launched something called nokings alliance, which you can sign up for and join to get those weekly call to action. The first thing we are doing is helping people who are being hurt by the coming snap cuts and who are facing all of these challenges as a result of Republicans attacking our social services, attacking our health care during this ongoing shutdown. But we're going to be also going to push, push, pressure corporations that are going on, that are capitulating to Trump, that are giving him what he wants. We're going to be using our dollars and we're going to be using our consumer to push back. Because fundamentally right now they think they can do what he wants and they won't experience any push back. And we got to change that equation.

[Interviewer]

I agree with you. These billionaires and companies that have capitulated in advance, they're the ones that they're going to lose. I mean, it's very shortsighted because they're cons, you know, their consumers. Like just for example, look at Target.

[Ezra Levin]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I mean, 100. The consumer said we're not, we're not doing that. No. So I think it's super important. Are there certain ways, like the no Kings alliance. I'm going to get on. Absolutely. Get on there. What's just one quick example of what the local level weekly stuff is.

[Ezra Levin]

Look, something we've had it with. Can I say this here? I'm absolutely, look, I've had it with Spotify. Spotify is a good example of a corporate enabler. They are running ads to recruit for ice. Right now your streaming is going like. If you were listening to Spotify right now, you are helping fund the recruitment of a secret police force that is terrorizing American communities. The zip tying children and dragging them out of apartment buildings. And they don't need to be doing that. And what we saw with Disney, what we saw with Disney and Kimmel and ABC is, look, the regime is going to pressure. The regime is going to try to get these institutions to capitulate. And a smart leader will say, well, I just got to give in. It's just about the, the bottom line. I can't stand up to them. But if you mobilize millions of people, which we did for Disney, 1.7 million people canceled their subscriptions. We had people protesting outside of Burbank, ABC News in New York, and they gave. They, they push back against the regime. We've demonstrated what's possible if we don't just take this capitulation as a natural, inevitable thing. And if we succeed in organizing against these individual institutions, what that creates, it creates a culture of defiance. It prevents the regime from concentrating control. Part of this is, yes, it's about Congress, it's about the administration. Yes, that is happening. But the way that an authoritarian regime really concentrates power is it bullies the rest of society into submission. So we showed with Disney what's possible. I think right now, if people are interested in getting involved, take a step forward, show some solidarity, push back against Spotify until they stop running these ads. And if we run a few of these campaigns in between mass mobilization, what that looks like is the growth of a major national pro democracy movement that's going to be able to protect their election results when they try to steal them next year.

[Interviewer]

Oh, I don't think there's any question. They know how unpopular their policies are, so they're going after everybody. Okay, so you will let us know what you're planning for this summer when you have it all sorted out. Thank you so much for your what you're doing because this is difficult work and being boots on the ground is hard. But you have created something that people are looking to in this time. So thank you. We appreciate it and we will stay looking for it.

[Ezra Levin]

We are not the leaders of this. I just want to be clear. There are millions of people who are out there leading and this is very much bottom up. So if somebody is listening to this and it's like, oh, I'm glad somebody has it. Nuh, you've got it. This is your message. Start organizing. Reach out to your community. Maybe it's a local indivisible group, maybe it's 50, 51, maybe it's working Families Party. But find your local group and get to work. This is going to take all of us doing it.

[Interviewer]

That's a great point. That and it's exactly opposite of the current regime. Top down versus bottom up. And that that's typically where we have been as a country. Thank you, Ezra. Thank you, Leah. Please make sure you let us know on all the events moving forward. No kingsalliance.com and indivisible is it.com indivisible.org.

[Ezra Levin]

And you can go to no kings.org as well.

[Interviewer]

Oh.org. sorry I keep saying.com. i'm a train. You can't change it. All right. Thanks.

[Ezra Levin]

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