Calling President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration on Friday a blatant and unconstitutional “power grab,” progressive advocacy groups representing millions of Americans are gearing up to launch nationwide “crisis response” protests to fight back.
“If Donald Trump declares a national emergency to push his racist wall, we’ll mobilize nonviolent rapid-response events to stand up to defend our democracy and immigrant, Muslim, black, and brown communities from Trump’s dangerous national emergency power grab,” MoveOn.org declared.
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After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced on Thursday that Trump would declare a national emergency as he signs the bipartisan government spending deal, MoveOn launched the website CrisisResponse.us, where people can sign up to be notified of rapid response demonstrations in their area.
If Trump declares a #NationalEmergency for his racist & wasteful Wall, expect 1000s to hit streets in rapid response protests just days later — a mass, rapid visible outcry against the *real* emergency. Get ready & prepare to show up: https://t.co/CcbWcFw3D1 #DefundHate pic.twitter.com/2apqbgjnB9
— MoveOn (@MoveOn) February 14, 2019
“In the coming days, you will hear more from us about nationwide protests against Trump’s emergency declaration,” Public Citizen president Robert Weissman wrote in a letter to supporters late Thursday.
On top of legal and congressional action, Weissman argued that mass public outrage and demonstrations will be necessary to prevent Trump’s attempt to subvert the legislative process to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“If the slide to authoritarianism and tyranny is to be averted, he must be restrained — in the first place by Congress and hopefully by the courts, but ultimately by the American people,” Weissman concluded. “The future of our country is very much at stake. It’s up to We the People to defend our nation against the tyranny rising before our eyes.”
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Progressive nonprofits are the latest target caught in Trump’s crosshairs. With the aim of eliminating political opposition, Trump and his sycophants are working to curb government funding, constrain private foundations, and even cut tax-exempt status from organizations he dislikes.
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