Democrats denounced the move, including the state’s top Democrat Gene Wu, who argued: “Sending armed soldiers to suppress peaceful protests is what kings and dictators do – and Greg Abbott just proved he’s one of them.”
Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin also ordered the state National Guard to be activated.
Earlier this week actor Robert De Niro, a regular Trump critic, shared a short video urging Americans to join in “non-violently raising our voices”.
“We’ve had two and a half centuries of democracy… often challenging, sometimes messy, always essential,” he said.
“Now we have a would-be king who wants to take it away: King Donald the First.”
Among the celebrities expected to attend No Kings rallies are Jane Fonda, Kerry Washington, John Legend, Alan Cumming and John Leguizamo.
Americans are deeply divided on Donald Trump. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 40% approved of his performance as president, while 58% disapproved. This puts him about on par with his average approval rating during his first term, but lower than his 47% approval rating when he took office for the second time in January.
It is common for president’s to become more unpopular as their term wears on. Joe Biden had a 55% approval rating, accordind to Reuters/Ipsos, in January 2021. By October of that year, his approval had declined to 46%.
