Even MAGA country is protesting Trump [View all]

Even MAGA country is protesting Trump
New research shows a small but growing protest movement in areas that voted overwhelmingly for the president

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published March 17, 2026 9:05AM (EDT)


(Salon) When Donald Trump returned to power in January 2025, he moved quickly to complete his autocratic takeover and rubblize American democracy in ways more consistent with an absolute monarch than a president. In its first year, his blitzkrieg on the country’s institutions, rule of law and political culture was remarkably effective. The American people were shell-shocked. Supposedly the ultimate check on power, many became the walking wounded, moving by instinct with a hand on the shoulder of the person ahead of them, like soldiers in the first world war.

A year later, the picture is more complicated — and, with important qualifiers, more encouraging in ways that matter. Trump has failed to fully consolidate power. With his popularity at an historic low for a president at this point in his term, his unfitness for office is undeniable to all but the most diehard members of the MAGA personality cult.

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According to Erica Chenoweth, director of the Nonviolent Action Lab at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, protest participation in counties that voted for Trump has increased by 60%. As these counties are more rural and less populated, the numbers are still small. Drawing on data from 2025, she found that, on average, 65 people per 10,000 total have engaged in anti-Trump protests.

More striking still is the geographic distribution. Chenoweth’s data shows a notable rise in protests in deep red areas — in some cases, organizers reported, the first anti-Trump events their towns and communities had ever seen. The scale of this shift, Chenoweth told an interviewer in October 2025, is “comparable to (the Black Lives Matter protests) in the summer of 2020 which, at the time, was the largest and broadest mass mobilization in U.S. history.” ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/03/17/even-maga-country-is-protesting-trump/