Thousands March Downtown with Message for Trump: “We don’t like kings, we like bubbles.”
Photo captured by Flyer News
Michael Oliss | News Editor
Thousands of people gathered in downtown Dayton on Saturday as part of the second wave of nationwide “No Kings” protests, a movement criticizing what organizers call President Donald Trump’s authoritarian tendencies.
According to WHIO News, more than 70 demonstrations were held across Ohio on Oct. 18, including about a dozen in the Dayton region. The events follow June’s “No Kings” protests, which organizers estimated drew more than 5 million people in 2,000 locations across the country.
Saturday’s demonstration came nearly 20 days into a government shutdown that both Trump and Vice President JD Vance blamed on Democrats, despite Republicans controlling all branches of the federal government. Protestors in Dayton cited a wide range of grievances with the Trump administration, including climate change, reproductive rights, immigration enforcement, and healthcare access.
Angela, a Dayton health professional and one of the organizers, said she has witnessed worsening conditions for patients since the shutdown began.
“We already had a pretty choppy healthcare system and now it’s worsened,” she said. “People are scared to get treatment out of fear of facing repercussions from how they look. People are losing their coverage. Lives are being lost because of legislative decisions that are one-sided.”
Another protestor, Hannah, said she marched for people unable to attend: “I’m representing people that are scared to come out here today… people that are in fear of being deported or arrested,” she said.
Her father, a military veteran, said he joined the protest “for my friends in the government who are worried about losing their jobs or facing punishments.”
The protest remained peaceful amid a strong police presence and a lively atmosphere. Many participants wore costumes, including pigs, frogs, dinosaurs and food items, while others carried American flags. Families and dogs joined the crowd as patriotic music played from portable speakers.
Jason, dressed as a pig, said his outfit was meant to show that “this is not at all a violent protest. There’s families here, kids here — we’re all having fun.”
A participant who was giving out bubbles said, “We’re sending the message that we’re spreading joy, love, kindness. We’re not a bunch of crazy, violent, radical lunatics, but we don’t like kings. We like bubbles.”
Some protestors expressed mixed political views.
One Republican said he did not regret voting for Trump but was concerned about the economy. “My friends are losing money in business [because] of these tariffs,” he said. “Grocery prices are not down… gas prices are not down.” When asked if he would vote for Trump again in 2028, he said he was unsure.
When asked about accusations that Trump was behaving like a monarch, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “Who cares?”
On social media, Trump and Vance responded with AI-generated videos mocking the protests. On Truth Social, Trump shared a video depicting himself flying a plane labeled King Trump and dropping feces on protestors below. Vance posted a similar video on Bluesky showing Trump in a crown and robe with prominent Democrats kneeling before him.
Sen. Ted Cruz claimed that billionaire George Soros was financially backing the more than 2,000 protests across the nation, though there is no direct evidence suggesting any monetary relationship between Soros and the “No Kings” organizers. Public information from Open Society Foundations shows prior grants to progressive organizations such as Indivisible, which helped coordinate some protests, but no indication of direct event-level funding or control.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he was concerned about antifa “infiltrating” the demonstrations. Protestors carried signs mocking Trump’s recent decision to label antifa a terrorist organization, with some wearing shirts reading “I am antifa” and others in dinosaur costumes holding signs that said, “This is what antifa looks like.”