People hold signs as they attend the Womens March on New York City on January 20, 2018 in New York City.KENA BETANCUR/AFP / Getty Images
They came wearing pink hats, pink scarves and pink jackets, crowding into city streets which roared with noise. There were strollers and walkers and wheelchairs, dogs and drummers and infants. And as the marchers passed in front of a building bearing the president's name in gold letters, they chanted their disapproval by repeating a single word: Shame. Shame. Shame.
Women took to the streets in New York and across the United States on Saturday in a remarkable show of opposition to a sitting president exactly one year after his inauguration. The protests were less large than a year ago but no less intense, propelled by the administration's policies and a nationwide reckoning over sexual assault and harassment.
For Donald Trump, it was a sour anniversary. Not only were hundreds of thousands of people from Washington to Los Angeles participating in the Women's March, but the federal government was also shutting down for the first time in five years after he failed to reach a deal with Democrats on Friday.
For the Democratic Party, the marches all over the country were a sign that its voters are energized and ready to mobilize ahead of November's midterm elections. Such a public show of opposition to the president could also bolster the party's resolve to hold firm in the continuing negotiations to end the shutdown.
At this year's protests, there were clear signs of a push to translate the energy in the streets into victories at the ballot box. In New York, placards urged people to register to vote and women spoke to the crowds about how they had been galvanized to run for office. On Sunday, the organizers of the women's marches are holding a rally in Las Vegas under the banner of "Power to the Polls."
Some protesters held signs reading, "Grab him by the midterms," a reference to a 2005 recording that emerged just before the presidential election in which Mr. Trump boasted about grabbing women's genitals.
In a tweet, Mr. Trump ignored the fact that the marchers were motivated by their dislike of his presidency and their support of women's rights. "Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March," he wrote Saturday. "Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!"
Some of the marchers had already demonstrated their displeasure with Mr. Trump at the first Women's March protests one year ago. But others were taking part for the first time, spurred by Mr. Trump's gift for infuriating new groups of people.
Thomas Beague, 25, a student from Long Island, N.Y., had never attended a protest in his life before this past week. His father is Haitian-American and the whole family was outraged by Mr. Trump's reportedly disparaging comments about Haitians during a White House meeting on immigration last week. "I feel like I need a voice," said Mr. Beague, who attended the march in New York with his sister. "I want to make sure he knows that what he is saying is wrong."
Amanda Rivera, a student at Queens College, was also marching for the first time. Her mother is an immigrant from El Salvador who arrived in the U.S. at the age of 12. Ms. Rivera said Mr. Trump's comments on immigration made her mother weep as she recalled the difficulty of arriving in an unfamiliar country and forging a new life. To work hard all these years and then get "belittled by people out of ignorance… it's just not right," said Ms. Rivera, 25.
In New York, where throngs of people marched down the west side of Central Park, protesters spoke of wanting to do something concrete to register their opposition to Mr. Trump's administration.
"You feel helpless watching everything that's going on," said Julie Aron, 60, who was attending the march with friends from Long Island, N.Y. "You can't just be a spectator." Ms. Aron said that she was especially disheartened by Mr. Trump's attacks on the press and on anyone he perceives as an adversary. "Just the mean tone," she said. The country has "lost its heart."
Along the route, there were spells of companionable silence and energetic chanting as marchers waved homemade signs, which ranged from the pithy ("Unfit," "Persist," "Listen,") to the verbose ("Super callous fascist racist extra-braggadocious"). One protester held a sign bearing a photo of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, with the words, "Please save us."
Paul Collins, 66, was wearing a pink hat with pussycat ears for the first time in his life. "I'm here to stop the bully," he said. "Trump bullies the media, gays, immigrants, Congress – he bullies everyone."
"Are you from Canada?" he asked this reporter. "Tell them we're sorry."
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