There is nothing more foundational to the American experience and the very existence of this nation than the proud tradition of open protest and public dissent. These integral activities are the coded DNA from which this country has developed. Both democracy and the United States are often described as a long unfolding experiment. Grassroots protests for justice, both in the streets and on college campuses, are one of the most important laboratories in which this experiment unfolds.

What’s become clear since the re-instatement of Trump to the Oval Office, is that the Democratic Party’s leadership is proving ineffectual and out of touch with the desires of the politically left-leaning population. The evidence of this painfully appeared not only on election day in November of 2024, but continues to echo through the news as Trump runs roughshod over the false guardrails that the three “equal” branches of government were designed to provide.

There is no lingering question as to whether Trump respects the right of dissent and protest in this country. In the Summer of 2020, during weeks of national uprisings following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, President Trump was incensed by the scale of the national protests — even more so by the protests outside the White House. In his eyes, these legitimate demonstrations of outrage made the country (and his leadership) look weak. To remedy the situation, he asked his then Joint Chiefs Chairman, Gen. Mark Milley, in front of a shocked roomfull of staff, “Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?” (Michael Martin, 2022).

During Biden’s reign, campus protests exploded across the country in response to the administration’s unwavering decision to provide the munitions for the horrific war that’s unfolded in Gaza. Currently, the ability to exercise this right is being eviscerated by the Trump administration’s willingness to withhold federal funds for universities, and to break the rule of law by deporting foreign-born residents who exercise their constitutionally protected rights. Add in the willingness to turn issues of free speech (for those standing with Palestine) into allegations of terrorist organizational support for Hamas, as well as exploiting the narrative that support for the people of Palestine amounts to anti-Semitism, and we can safely predict the Trump administration will continue to bend and break any laws necessary to silence those who engage in dissent that directly opposes their anti-DEI/pro-hate agenda.

Unfortunately, it’s apparent that the U.S. citizenry can’t expect the two-party system to protect the civil liberties that are the backbone of this country. Last week, after Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer’s capitulation to the Republican spending bill forced him to go on a “let me explain myself” tour, several things became abundantly clear:

• There is a crisis of leadership in the Democratic Party.
• The Democratic leadership in Washington does not have their finger on the pulse of their constituents.
• The Dems do not look prepared to deal with the unfolding constitutional crisis that is Trump 2.0 governance.

Last Sunday, Chuck Schumer went on Lulu Garcia-Navarro’s podcast, the New York Times’ “The Interview,” to not only explain his stance on what the Dems must do to re-capture the trust of American lefties, but to also wax un-poetically on campus protest and the war in Gaza. To call the entirety of the interview jaw-dropping and woefully disconnected from reality would be a massive understatement.

Chuck Schumer: “We are the party of working people, we FEEL that very very strongly, that’s who we have always been.”

Lulu Garcia-Navarro: “But you know that’s not how the American people view the Democratic Party right now?”

 When Lulu Garcia-Navarro pressed further on what message the Democratic leadership must deliver to the American people to bolster current historically low Democratic approval ratings, Schumer said this: “It’s sort of a simple, it’s a simple little phrase. Donald Trump is making the middle class pay for tax cuts for billionaires.” 

It’s magical thinking if we believe the Democratic Party can resist the authoritarian onslaught and protect against the erosion of our rights by driving home the message that Republicans are gutting the middle class and social services to enrich themselves. Although this assertion is true, relying on this antiquated messaging as pushback against the complete remaking of governance in this country is wildly inadequate.

When Garcia-Navarro asked Schumer about the war in Gaza and whether what’s occurring could be described as genocide Schumer said:

“Genocide is described as, this is the definition, a country or a group tries to wipe out a whole race of people, a whole nationality of people. So, if Israel was not provoked and just invaded Gaza and shot at random Palestinians, Gazans, that would be genocide, that’s not what happened. In fact, the opposite happened. Hamas is much closer to genocidal than Israel.”

Regarding campus protests across the US, Schumer dismissively stated:

“I say to some people, if I were your age, you know the younger people protesting, I’d be protesting something or other, so I get that and I love it, and it’s about America. Protest. But when it shades over to violence and anti-Semitism, the colleges had to do something and a lot of them didn’t do enough, they shrugged their shoulders, looked the other way. Columbia among them.”

As agents of change in this country, we do not have the luxury of waiting and hoping that Democratic leadership defines and effectively mobilizes their opposition to the creeping authoritarianism of the Trump regime. It would be foolish to do so. Now more than ever, we must accept responsibility for the fate of our country as well as the preservation of our civil liberties. Traditionally, governmental change is fairly slow. Sadly,we’ve learned this is only true if you adhere to centuries old norms and the rule of law. The Trump administration does neither.

There is absolutely no doubt that this is a difficult time to be an activist and/or organizer in the United States. But it’s also true that it has always been difficult. Genocidal war-making on foreign shores, the shameful neocolonial behavior of our current government, the erosion of our civil liberties — each of these examples requires robust engagement by those willing to walk out of classrooms and flood the streets. As challenging and sometimes frightening as resistance can be, there is another way to view this moment in the arc of history: This is a moment of profound opportunity. We need to be better activists and organizers then ever before, and we must understand that any substantive change to the current erosion of our rights must — and will — come from the people in the streets — and not the policy makers on Capitol Hill.

Civil Liberties Defense Center is proud to have spent more than 20 years fighting for the rights of the people who are willing to stand up against state-sponsored and corporate abuse of the planet and all of its inhabitants. During this tenure we’ve compiled an incredible library of resources in the form of webinars, trainings, and raw materials necessary to stay strong and remain as safe as possible in this generational struggle. Now is the time to stand up and be counted! Whether you’ve engaged in activism in the past but have had your activist hat in the drawer for a while, or if you’re new to the myriad of ways exercising your constitutionally protected rights can act as the best and longest lasting bulwark against authoritarianism, now is the time to speak out and take action. By supporting CLDC you’ll have access to one of the best toolkits in the resistance. Continue to stand with us, so we may stand with you and better create the world we want to be inhabiting.