WASHINGTON—Just before mass coast to coast rallies yesterday against his rule, dictatorial Republican President Donald Trump handed protesters more evidence of his willingness to embrace fascism by declaring and posting on the White House website a quote originating with Napoleon but circulated much more recently by Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian fascist who murdered 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage in that country.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s original quote: “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” The quote appears underneath an adoring portrait of Napoleon on a rearing horse. Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian fascist murderer who killed so many in 2021, repeated it after the murders.
Trump is not known as an avid reader or student of history so it can be assumed he is fed tidbits of history that might appeal to him from others, among whom are dangerous figures like Stephen Miller and Elon Musk who has campaigned openly for fascist political parties in Germany.
It’s not the first time, however, that Trump has let the public know about his desires to be an autocratic dictator. During last year’s presidential campaign, Trump said he’d be “a dictator on Day One.” The Napoleonic quote is also reminiscent of a Richard Nixon quote almost 50 years ago: “If the president does it, it cannot be illegal.” Hitler and Mussolini, of course, said similar things.
Trump’s actions in the three weeks since then show—as his Democratic presidential foes Joe Biden and Kamala Harris predicted—he isn’t stopping his tyranny on Day One.
Since January 20, Trump produced carnage via a non-stop barrage of executive orders. He fired thousands of federal workers and impounded congressionally ordered funding. He unilaterally shut down two agencies and is targeting more, notably the Education and Labor Departments. His minions, notably Vice President J.D. Vance, advocate Trump defy court orders pausing or halting his destruction.
Trump has also been subservient to dictatorial and anti-worker South African multibillionaire Elon Musk. Musk smirked last year in a Chicago appearance with Trump when Trump praised him for firing people who stood up for their worker rights. Now, Musk has closed federal agencies and seized intimate personal records of tens of millions of people.
“The current administration clarified it cares more about profit than people. We as a collective refuse to stand by as they continue to undermine the dignity of our communities,” responded the organizers of the national demonstrations yesterday, the bottom-up grass roots #50501 movement.
The movement arose on social media, promoting national rallies on February 5 and then on February 17, Presidents Day to oppose “the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies.”
“Elon and DOGE’s unconstitutional power grab is creating chaos in the lives of millions of workers,” AFT tweeted on Valentine’s Day, referring to Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group of 22-something computer nerds who raid federal offices and seize personal records. “Working people deserve a federal government that works for them, not billionaires.” SEIU tweeted: “No one elected Elon Musk.”
“We are not just numbers or consumers. We are the People. We reject fascism. We reject the oligarchy. We reject the idea that any person’s worth is less than another’s,” 50501 organizers posted on its website.
“America has no king. Trump and his wealthy cronies are undermining the constitution and rule of law to tear apart our democratic institutions and communities.”
“Not my president!” signs proliferated at the rallies at every state capital, the U.S. Capitol, and large and small cities stretching from New York, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif., Seattle, Dallas and Chicago to Provo, Utah, and Billings, Mont., both in deep-red states.
Calls to deport Musk
“Deport Musk! Dethrone Trump!” read a D.C. sign, under a heart with American flag designs. “Republicans are cancelling the Constitution” read a handwritten sign in Virginia Beach, Va., referring to GOP political complicity with Trump and Musk.
“In the name of humanity, we refuse to accept a fascist America. Trump must go!” a speaker said in Chicago, as hundreds gathered on Daley Plaza in the Loop. Signs there also read “mass deportation = ethnic cleansing,” “Stop Project 2025 It’s Un-American” and “Elon has no right to my data,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
Tanya Hollifield, an artist in Little Rock, Ark., told The New York Times: “I took my sign that said ‘Fight Fascism Everywhere. ‘I think they’re tearing down the whole system of checks and balances and the Elon Musk coup, or takeover, is one of the current things I’m really upset about.” Arkansas, too, is a deep-red state, except for Little Rock itself.
One woman in front of Dallas City Hall, among hundreds of people, held up an anti-Trump sign and said, with an accent: “We have to get rid of Musk! Who the hell is Musk?” Tens of honking horns greeted the Dallas crowd’s chants of “Down with DOGE!”
“I am a mother, I am a sister and a daughter and I care very much about the legacy we leave our children,” Bellevue, Wash., resident Patti Wilson told Seattle’s KING-TV. “If you think democracy is infallible then you are taking it for granted and you are likely to lose it.”
At Long Beach, Sam Williams, blew a shofar (ram’s) horn. His vest read “D.E.I. Proud Vet 1966,” Long Beach media reported. Williams served in Vietnam. D.E.I. stands for “diversity, equity and inclusion” federal offices—which Trump abolished.
One protest sign, waving above the crowd at the Washington state capital of Olympia, showed a cartoon of Musk and Trump in a convertible, with Trump carrying a big moneybag.
That refers to what Trump wants to do with many of the dollars he would allegedly save: Fund another big tax cut for his backers, the rich and the corporations. The House’s ruling Republicans, kowtowing to Trump, released a budget blueprint with room for that tax cut, funded by massive slashes in health, education, welfare, veterans and other programs, including Medicaid.
The D.C. protest, named “No Kings Day,” drew more than 1,000 people. Organizers said it also was to “resist Project 2025”—Trump’s platform, authored by the radical right Heritage Foundation—”and fight for human rights, equality and justice.”
One D.C. sign, carrying that label, featured a photoshopped picture of Trump kneeling and bowing before a seated Musk, who’s wearing royal robes.
Other handwritten signs targeted congressional Republicans, who with few exceptions, have been an uncritical combination of cheering section and enablers for Musk and Trump.
“GOP stop being cowards,” read one handwritten sign at the Long Beach, Calif., rally, which drew 500 people. “Stop corrupt Trump,” said another. “Repubs grow a spine,” demanded a D.C. sign.
“We stand firm at a critical moment in history, demanding that the American people be heard and that the White House be governed by the true will of the people, not by a tech billionaire who seeks to buy influence and control,” D.C. organizers added.
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
