Hundreds of Vermonters braved bitter cold and blowing snow on Presidents’ Day to denounce their president and what they characterized as his assault on democracy.
From Burlington to Bristol to the Statehouse steps in Montpelier, residents raged against the second presidency of Donald Trump, including the efforts of billionaire Elon Musk to gut federal funding and programs.
In Montpelier, protesters carried signs that read “Stand Up for Democracy,” “Stop the Coup: End Oligarchs Now” and “Say No to Nazis.”
“We have had enough of the orange, narcissistic sociopath who blurts out fascist ideas and lies every time he breathes!” Barre resident Michel Kabay bellowed to the receptive crowd. “Fuck Trump!”
Kabay urged residents to stand up to Trump by supporting groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union that are fighting him in court.
The event was billed as a National Day of Protest, or Not My Presidents Day.
The number and size of rallies across the nation has grown in recent weeks as Trump’s flurry of disruptive executive orders, controversial cabinet picks, and Musk’s slash-and-burn tactics against the federal workforce appear to have jolted the left out of its postelection malaise.
In Montpelier, an icy wind blew snow around Joe Moore, cochair of the Green Mountain Democratic Socialists of America, as he addressed a crowd of protesters that stretched from the Statehouse steps to State Street. Moore said U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was right to call Trump and Musk oligarchs who are “waging a war on the working class of this country.”
“Why are billionaires like Musk going after the federal bureaucracy?” Moore asked. “Because a diminished and incapacitated federal government can’t regulate their companies, tax their wealth, support their workers’ aspirations to unionize to hold them accountable for their corruption and criminality,” he said.
Rep. Kate Logan (P/D-Burlington) said Trump’s executive orders made it clear he was going after immigrants, trans people and people with disabilities, charges that prompted shouts of “Shame!”
“And by dismantling our federal programs, he is now taking aim at low-income and poor Americans, our elders, and every child who wasn’t born into a wealthy family,” Logan said.
The harsh conditions forced some speakers to cut their remarks short. Wind toppled a microphone stand. Protesters shielded their ruddy faces behind handmade signs.
But the crowd nevertheless vented their frustrations with chants of “Boycott Tesla!” and “People united will not be divided!”
A few hundred protesters also gathered on Burlington’s Church Street, rallying in front of city hall, which was closed for the holiday.
They waved signs, sang, and listened to speeches denouncing Trump and Musk.
“The constitution’s not for sale,” they chanted.
Matthew Roy contributed reporting.
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