As former President Trump’s motorcade passed through Beverly Hills, Newport Beach and San Francisco last week, groups of MAGA hat-wearing, flag-waving fans lined posh streets and coastal highways to cheer.
Yet when Vice President Kamala Harris, who grew up among community activists in Berkeley, attended a San Francisco fundraiser that same week, a crowd of more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters chanted, “Shame on you!”
This divide has been growing for months, not least among protests on college campuses and through street protests. But as the protests have moved into the campaign, love for Trump and anger at Harris and President Biden have grown even stronger, especially in deep-blue California, where a large majority of voters agree with Harris and Biden that Trump is a threat to democracy.
Activists and political leaders in California and across the country cite a variety of reasons for protesting against Biden, their potential running mate, compared to Trump, whom they see as a dictator.
Biden, shouldering the burden of staying in power that he did not face four years ago, is facing a tough stance from some left-wing activists who believe they can still push him even further left. And while some protesters support no candidate at all, most have rejected Trump, whom they see as irredeemable.
Support for the president remains high in California – Biden has a 20-point lead over Trump in the state, according to poll Aggregator Five Thirty Eight. But Democrats nationally are concerned that the impact of the anti-Biden protests could hurt the president, as multiple polls show him either tied or losing to Trump.
“What we’re all worried about is, when it comes to politics, can people accept that even if Biden hasn’t made the perfect policy choices for the Middle East, they are still the best political choices?” said Faiz Shakir, a progressive independent who is the chief political adviser to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. “And the jury is still out on that.”
Of course, protests don’t mean votes. But Anti-Trump Left-wing extremism has been a powerful and persistent force in California since 2016, sparking conflict Counter-protesters that changed violent Sometimes, calling for the presence of the police, Heavy crowd And headlines. Anti-Trump sentiment persisted throughout Trump’s presidency and the 2020 election, despite pandemic-era social distancing rules, and helped rally the coalition that defeated him.
“Donald Trump is being rejected by large segments of his own party … They are rejecting his failed leadership, his divisive rhetoric, and his threats of political violence against protesters or anyone who dares disagree with the dictator Trump,” Biden campaign spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika said in a statement to the Times. “Meanwhile, President Biden is able to bring people together, even if they don’t always agree.”
Some activists say privately that the violence at those events has deterred some activists from taking to the streets. And though many left-wing protesters say they fear a Trump return to power, many do not see themselves as aligned with the Democratic Party. Their main goal is to change policy, not elect a president.
Still, many believe a Trump presidency could jeopardize all of their goals, including the right to protest.
The Biden administration’s stance on the war between Israel and Hamas, which has fueled much anger among activists, is closely linked to that of Israeli President Vladimir Putin. The number of protesters is more than Trump’s Who has supported Israeli control over the disputed land and urged Israel to “finish the job” in Gaza.
“At some point, you have this boiling over. I don’t believe protesters are saying, ‘We’re protesting Biden because we want Trump.’ They already know what Trump is,” said the Rev. William Barber II, one of the nation’s leading civil rights and anti-poverty activists who directs the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale University.
When Trump arrived in Newport Beach on June 8, Orange County Democrats were so busy casting votes for down-ballot races that they didn’t worry about the top of the ticket, said county party chairwoman Ada Briceno. Volunteers were knocking on doors, campaigning for Dave Min for Congress and attending an ice cream party for Tammy Kim’s mayoral campaign in Irvine.
Susan Hildreth, president of the Bay Area Democrats of Rossmoor, said her volunteers have also been busy writing postcards and knocking on doors for Central Valley congressional candidates such as Rudy Salas. She said her group is mostly made up of people over 55 who are less inclined to attend protests.
“We are absolutely anti-Trump,” said Hildreth, 72. The fact that Trump critics have not taken to the streets may be due to “the general age of this group, not any other reason. It doesn’t mean we don’t care!”
Still, California Democrats didn’t completely ignore Trump. Some counterprotesters broke into the Newport Beach MAGA crowd and accompanied the motorcade, shouting “Happy Pride!” and heckling some people. An “Orange County Vote Biden/Harris 2024” banner hung from the back of an airplane.
In San Francisco, Trump as a puffed chicken Adorned with black and white prison stripes, the vessel was transported around the bay on a boat called the “Alcatraz Prison Transport.”
Armand Domalewski, a 34-year-old data analyst, gathered a group of about 50 people and stood on a San Francisco street in front of a crowd of Trump supporters, who he said occasionally crossed the street to taunt his side.
“There’s a weird asymmetry between the parties,” Domalewski said, noting that Democrats as well as Republicans are protesting against Democrats. That reality “makes it really hard, because both sides are opposing us.”
Though he has attended many protests, last week was the first time Domalewski coordinated a protest himself — because no one else did, he said. Trump supporters were clearly more organized. Vocal, too. Some sang “Happy Birthday” in anticipation of Trump’s birthday. (He turns 78 on Friday.)
Also in 2020, Biden was never a movement candidate like Sanders or Trump, who held big inspirational rallies and raised small-dollar donations from their die-hard fans; Biden also did some virtual campaigning to protect against Covid-19. And unlike Trump, who regularly uses violent language and provocative images at his rallies, Biden has campaigned as a quiet unifier.
“We haven’t seen Joe Biden fight,” Shakir said.
Though Biden has governed as a progressive, “he’s not a populist by nature who gives you emotional satisfaction like a cause, a movement and a mission,” Shakir said. His argument is one of competence and good judgment, which doesn’t work as well in a field, he said.
Trump has been an inspiration to both his supporters and opponents in politics. The biggest protest against him happened in 2017, the day after his inauguration, when thousands of women in Washington and across the country stood up to speak out against him and for gender equality.
But the political group formed after that protest, the Women’s March, has so far only endorsed candidates in local and state elections and is rethinking its approach to confronting Trump. Street protests are probably not the best strategy.
“Trump vowed from day one to be a dictator, so we know he won’t take the protests seriously. He won’t take global human rights concerns seriously,” said Tamika Middleton, the group’s managing director.
But the Women’s March may shift its focus to reproductive rights and women’s equality to avoid giving a platform to Trump, given that he has raised money and attracted attention in the face of adversity, including his own re-election campaign. 34 felony charges.
“Trump seems to take great pleasure in the attention he gets from being confronted head-on with the Women’s March,” she said.
Biden is set to return to California on Saturday for a posh downtown Los Angeles fundraiser attended by Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney and Julia Roberts, As well as former President Obama.
Already, Jewish Voice for Peace has announced it will greet his arrival with protests.
Birman reported from Washington and Pinho from Los Angeles.
