‘No kings. Not here. Not ever’: At Boston ‘No Kings’ rally, Mass. pols warn Trump
The message to President Donald Trump, from the Bay State's elected leaders, was about as unambiguous as it gets.
Massachusetts, the birthplace of the American Revolution, booted a king 250 years ago. If push comes to shove, it has no problem with history repeating itself.
And judging by the response from the tens of thousands of cheering spectators who gathered on Boston Common for Saturday's " No Kings " rally, Massachusetts is here for it.
"In Boston, every day is No Kings Day," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said. Confronted by hecklers, she shrugged them off, saying, "This is Boston, where every voice is heard."
Wu, who has clashed frequently and publicly with the Trump administration over its hardline immigration policies, told the crowd that Trump and Republicans attacked the state's largest city because they're afraid of what it symbolizes.
"We stand here today to tell the Trump administration, when it comes to our freedoms, when it comes to our families, Boston doesn't back down," Wu told the crowd. "What terrifies them about our city isn't just that we kicked out a king and we [can] do it again."
"It's not just that our city is not for sale or that we run a government that actually delivers as a home for everyone and the safest major city in the country," she continued. "It's not just that we empower our workers and stand with public employees instead of using them as political pawns. What scares them the most about Boston is that we are proof of the America they insist is impossible."
Saturday's rally, one of thousands of such gatherings across the country, and the second of Trump's administration, unfolded against the backdrop of a government shutdown that's dragging into its third week with no end in sight.
The deadlock over funding is now the third-longest ever shutdown, and members of the state's congressional delegation, who made surprise appearances, had no problem assigning blame.
"Patriots support free and fair elections, and when patriots elect a congresswoman from Arizona, we swear her in," U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-5th District, the second-ranking Democrat in the chamber, said.
That's a reference to U.S. Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., who won a special election three weeks ago to a seat held by her late father. House Republicans have refused to swear her into office amid the shutdown.
If she takes her seat, Grijalva would provide Democrats with the support they need to force a vote on releasing the Epstein Files.
Blue States, such as Massachusetts, that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, have borne the brunt of the Republican White House's scorn.
The Bay State has lost some $3.7 billion in federal support since the beginning of the year, recent state data show.
That came in the form of clawbacks from the White House and spending reductions included in the domestic policy mega-bill that Trump signed into law in July.
State Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell, who's joined with Democratic attorneys general nationwide in a blizzard of lawsuits trying to recover that money, touted her successes, but warned that the fight goes on.
Campbell, met with cheering from a fired-up crowd, said, "they will keep on coming and we will keep on fighting ... If they come for Massachusetts, I say, bring it on."
"When we march, when we organize, when we vote," Campbell said, "we win."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, tells the crowd at the "No Kings" protest on the Boston Common, "Donald Trump is not a king. Donald Trump is a bully" on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.(John L. Micek/MassLive)
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who took to the stage with fellow Democratic U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, accused Trump and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill of playing politics while the taxpayers paid the price.
"They claim a 'No Kings' rally is anti-American," Warren said. "They are wrong. ... It is deeply American. It is patriotism. Standing up to a wannabe dictator, that is patriotism."
The "No Kings" movement's organizers positioned Saturday's rally as a day of action in "response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration," according to the No Kings organization's website.
Top Republicans, including Trump himself, saw the day very differently .
"It's all the pro-Hamas wing and, you know, the Antifa people," U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News in a recent interview .
"They're all coming out. Some of the House Democrats are selling T-shirts for the event, and it's being told to us that they won't be able to reopen the government until after that rally because they can't face their rabid base. I mean, this is serious business hurting real people. . . . I'm beyond words," Johnson told the cable channel.
On Saturday, counter-demonstrators offered the same message.
Laura Simpson, 52, of Cambridge, who wore a MAGA hat, walked around Boston Common with three other Trump supporters. The protesters, she said, were "crying like little babies every day."
"We love our president," she said. "These people are cooked."
Simpson denounced both Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who was not in attendance. She said Wu was a communist, and that Healey was "even worse."
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who followed Warren, dismissed that sentiment.
"Donald Trump does not want to make America great again; he wants to make America hate again," the Malden pol said, adding that Bay State residents stand up for what is right.
"We do not coronate — we liberate. We do not agonize — we organize," Markey said. " ... No kings. Not here. Not ever."
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District, also offered a message of solidarity to the crowd.
The Boston Democrat said she was tired of people "who carry a mouthful of scriptures but a heart full of hate."
"You're here because you're tired, but we draw strength from one another," she said.
The mood on the Common on Saturday was largely celebratory, with the intergenerational crowd apparently following organizers' exhortations to gather peacefully and positively. Some even hoped that Republicans might listen to them.
"I hope more people understand that we're fighting for justice for all, Keri Fox, 53, of Reading, said. "It's not just the people who are here today ... I hope the other side understands that we are a movement of sons and daughters, sisters, and brothers. We want what's best for everyone."
Kayla Lopez, 25, of Fitchburg, was also looking for some change to come out of the day, saying she wanted to "open people's eyes to what's going on."
And while the majority of Massachusetts pols who spoke Saturday were greeted warmly, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-6th District, who announced a primary challenge to Markey earlier this week, was not as lucky.
The Salem pol was greeted by boos and expletives from some rallygoers who had not forgotten his comments to The New York Times last year about transgender athletes.
"Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face," Moulton told the newspaper in November 2024 .
"I have two little girls, I don't want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I'm supposed to be afraid to say that," Moulton said at the time.
That was more than Christina Knowles, a trans rights activist and lobbyist, was willing to take.
"You sold out trans kids! [Expletive] you!" Knowles, yelled from the crowd. "You don't belong here, Seth Moulton, you traitor! Trans kids matter."
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