No Kings event set for 14 June, as Trump celebrates birthday with White House UFC bout
A Night to Build Community will feature concert with Bette Midler, Patti Smith and Rufus Wainwright streaming nationwide
The No Kings movement has announced a nationwide event on 14 June, directly counter-programming Donald Trump’s 80th birthday celebrations and a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bout on the south lawn of the White House.
The centerpiece is a 90-minute concert at New York’s Town Hall featuring entertainer Bette Midler, songwriter Patti Smith, actor Jane Fonda, musician Rufus Wainwright and commentator Joy Reid – streaming free nationwide, while local groups host watch parties across the country. The event is co-presented by the Committee for the First Amendment, a coalition of artists and cultural figures, and frames the US’s 250th anniversary as a moment of democratic reckoning.
The plans put two very different visions for the occasion in direct competition.
The US president is billing UFC Freedom 250 as a historic national celebration: a star-spangled octagon arena on the south lawn of the White House, with 4,000 ticketed guests, and a fan festival on the Ellipse expected to draw up to 100,000 people. The weigh-ins are reportedly set to take place at the Lincoln Memorial.
Trump has claimed that demand for tickets, for an event which will feature a title fight between the lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and the interim champion Justin Gaethje, has been unlike anything he has seen. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle called it “one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history”.
No Kings, meanwhile, announced a concert, billed as A Night to Build Community, after a string of major mobilizations.
“We can let strongman politics and corruption define the moment,” it said in a statement. “Or we can make the story of America about people coming together – across race, background, identity, belief and community – to defend our rights and build a future rooted in people power.”
The first No Kings day, held on Trump’s 79th birthday last June to coincide with a military parade in Washington DC, drew an estimated 5 million participants nationwide, and by October, organizers claimed 7 million people turned out.
A third mobilization in March brought an estimated 8 million people into the streets in all 50 states and more than two dozen countries – which organizers described as the largest single-day protest ever recorded.
This year’s action adds a cultural dimension to the street protests, pairing the concert format with local community gatherings that organizers say will include art-making and civic action alongside the broadcast.
Considering a Night to Build Community will feature concert with Bette Midler, Patti Smith and Rufus Wainwright streaming, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
The bigger issue here is “We can let strongman politics and corruption define the moment,” it said in a statement. That changes the calculation.
No Kings, meanwhile, announced a concert, billed as A Night to Build Community, after a string of major mobilizations. Meanwhile “We can let strongman politics and corruption define the moment,” it said in a statement.
What stands out is the plans put two very different visions for the occasion in direct competition. That is the part worth paying attention to.
Hard to look at 7 million and not question the official narrative.
Reading that no Kings, meanwhile, announced a concert, billed as A Night to Build Community, after a string of major mobilizations — hard to argue with the logic there.
Reading that the plans put two very different visions for the occasion in direct competition — hard to argue with the logic there.
Build Community has been pushing this agenda for a while now.
5 million is hard to ignore, no matter which side you are on.
Reading that a Night to Build Community will feature concert with Bette Midler, Patti Smith and Rufus Wainwright streaming — hard to argue with the logic there.
When you look at “We can let strongman politics and corruption define the moment,” it said in a statement, the implications are hard to ignore.
The detail about the plans put two very different visions for the occasion in direct competition is something people should sit with.
Basically “We can let strongman politics and corruption define the moment,” it said in a statement. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
Considering no Kings, meanwhile, announced a concert, billed as A Night to Build Community, after a string of major mobilizations, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
The fact that the plans put two very different visions for the occasion in direct competition really puts things into perspective.