Thousands of people in masks rallied Saturday in Washington D.C. to protest President Donald Trump and his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The rally resembled that of January 2017, when young women and gender minorities across the country gathered to protest the president’s inauguration.
Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of Women’s March, kicked off the rally by asking attendees to maintain their distance from one another, adding that the only “superspreader event” would be the recent one at the White House. “His presidency began with women marching and now it’s going to end with woman voting. Period,” said Carmona.
Reproductive rights activist Sonja Spoo echoed Carmona, saying “there is no choice” but to vote Trump out of office. “We are the hell and the high water. Donald Trump is leaving office, and there is no choice for him,” she said. “Come Nov. 3, it will because of women – especially Black, brown and Indigenous women – stepping up and saying enough.”
According to a statement on the Women’s March website, organizers hope to “send an unmistakable message about the fierce opposition to Trump and his agenda, including his attempt to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat.”
The organization, with the help of demonstrators, also plans on sending over five million text messages, asking female voters to take action in the upcoming election.
Other rallies were organized from New York to San Francisco to signal opposition to Trump’s push to fill the seat of the late Justice Ginsburg before Election Day.
Trump nominated Barrett last month following the death of the late justice, and her confirmation hearings took place this past week. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Barrett’s confirmation on Oct. 22.