Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) revealed that he’ll participate in a ‘No Kings’ rally on Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s policies.
“I will join the marchers to celebrate what makes this country so great,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor Thursday. “I urge Americans, speak out, use your voice, and exercise your right to free speech. And, of course, there should be no violence from either side.”
The protests, set to be held in cities across the country and similar to past ‘No Kings’ marches earlier this year, are organized by progressive activist groups and have become a flashpoint of the government shutdown that stretched into its 16th day on Thursday. Schumer did not specify if he would participate in Washington, D.C., or New York.
Republicans have accused Democrats of prolonging the shutdown, which is centered on Democratic demands to extend expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies, beyond the date of the rallies to appease the party’s base.
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“You made whatever stupid point you’re trying to make for your leftist, terrorist wing,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) recently told the Washington Examiner. “This hate America group that’s going to be here on the 18th … It’s the hate America rally.”
Democrats have vehemently rejected the accusation, framing the protracted shutdown fight in the context of Obamacare open enrollment, with beneficiaries set to learn of higher monthly premiums for next year on or before Nov. 1.