Leftists Should Join Liberal Protests

We must meet the working class where they are.

With over 1,400 protests across the country, last weekend’s “Hands Off” demonstrations signaled America’s distaste for the Trump-Musk agenda. Organized by multiple advocacy groups, protests stretching from Alaska to Florida denounced pretty much everything the administration is doing. Placards and speakers condemned cuts to social security, the imprisonment of political prisoners, deportations, the infringement of free speech, and every other Trump-caused crisis. What’s most inspiring about Hands Off is that not only do the protestors reject Republican fascism, but they’re willing to mobilize against it. Disliking Trump is one thing, but proving that disdain through physical presence is something else entirely. As the government is disappearing dissidents and is known to attack left-wing rallies with police riots, Hands Off attendees were willing to accept some risk to make their voices heard. That’s a good sign for anti-fascist resistance.

Plus, Hands Off provided some of the funniest protest signs in recent memory.

But not everyone shared my appreciation. Given Hands Off was planned by groups inside the Democratic coalition (Indivisible, Move On, and the ACLU were core organizers) and included many state Democratic parties and PACs,¹ I wasn’t surprised that some leftists were dissatisfied with the event’s character. And their critiques were well-founded. Many elected Democrats who spoke at the protests have shown little resistance to Trump, even voting to confirm his cabinet nominees. Those pursuing the 2028 party nomination were at the forefront, shaking hands and kissing babies to portray themselves as anti-Trump leaders. It’s more than fair to criticize those who speak against fascism before a crowd but bow to it inside the congressional chambers. The espoused goals of the protest were also off-putting to the left. The organizers omitted Palestine from their list of issues but celebrated NATO, the exact opposite of an anti-imperialist foreign policy the political left aims to build.

One of many prominent leftist critics of Hands Off.

Especially after the anti-police message of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests was diluted into an encouragement to vote for former segregationist Joe Biden, leftists are more than warranted to be skeptical of Democrat-aligned movements. There’s a strong anti-fascist, progressive sentiment sweeping across America, and you can bet the house that Democratic strategists are seeking to limit and channel that grassroots energy into whichever campaign employs them. Given Democratic liberalism has twice succumbed to Trump at the ballot box, anyone disapproving of the Trump-Musk program should share this concern. Whether they’re a Never Trump Republican, an Obama-loving liberal, or a gun-toting communist, one must admit the Democrats have failed to stop the twice-elected president. You know what Albert Einstein said about the definition of insanity. An anti-Trump protest is fantastic! But if the result of that protest is to encourage DNC donations and voting for AIPAC-backed Senators in three years, it will not accomplish its stated goal of countering the GOP’s fascist agenda.

If leftists want to avoid this outcome and harness populist enthusiasm for meaningful change, we should not condemn these protests—we should join them. Not because we agree with every issue on the docket or every line in the headliner’s speech but because they provide us the fuel that has driven progressive movements around the globe and throughout history: an energized, mobilized working class.

Protestors outside the golf course where Trump was playing.

When the median American joins a Hands Off protest, they are demonstrating. Not just their dissatisfaction with the government but their willingness to act against it. Yes, every registered Democrat voter likely hates Trump as much as the person marching with a “Dump Trump” placard. The difference is that the person marching in the street has shown they’ll do something about it. While joining a mass protest might be a small display of commitment, it’s still a display of commitment. Labor organizers don’t start campaigns by sending workers to march on the boss. They start with tiny asks. “Can you come to this meeting?” “Could you wear this pin on Thursday?” As the workers show their commitment by completing small tasks, organizers build momentum with larger asks, such as pledging to vote YES or petitioning management. Someone attending a Hands Off protest should be viewed as a worker completing those tiny asks. They’ve displayed discontent with Trump and a willingness to mobilize against his project. That’s the first step to organizing them, which is how we defeat fascism.

If there is no progressive voice at these protests, then leftists’ fears will come true. Millions of politically active Americans will attend anti-Trump demonstrations and be sold an inadequate prescription. Politicians will tell them the key to ending oligarchy and disempowering Trump is making Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker of the House in 2026. As Jeffries is backed by the Worst People Ever,² I can confidently say neither he, his party allies, nor the interests they represent will solve the issues that inspired Americans to protest.

Top donors to Hakeem Jeffries last election cycle.

The motivating problems — oligarchy, attacks on social programs, an inhumane foreign policy, and more — can only be solved by addressing their source: capitalism and imperialism. To make this point and end the fascist absurdity, leftists need to call this out. And who better to educate than those who have shown an appetite for political change?

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As socialists, leftists, or whatever “-ist” or “isim” you identify with, we recognize that the American reality is very different from the American ideal. The country is not a democracy, the media has no journalistic integrity, and neither political party really cares if we live long or die young. While we recognize this, most Americans don’t. Not because they’re stupid, but because they’re busy working forty hours a week, raising their children, and fighting a To Do list emulating the Hydra: cross one task off and two take its place. As the masses are dissatisfied with Trump, they turn to the expected opposition, the Democratic Party. Democrats will encourage them to donate, like Chuck Schumer’s Tweets, and attend the upcoming rally. When they show up, leftists should be there to greet and educate with the intention of organizing. It doesn’t take much, and we don’t have to move someone from Maddow to Marx in one conversation. People aren’t radicalized overnight, so there’s no point in trying to do it in an afternoon. All you need to do is open the gate to the wider world of progressive politics. Table for your socialist organization, hand out flyers for your union, or turn to the person next to you and ask, “What brought you out today?” No matter their answer, whether its immigrant rights, tariffs, or foreign policy, you affirm their feelings and direct it to the conversation you want to have. “Oh, you don’t like ICE dragging people from their homes in the middle of the night? I agree. We need something entirely different.” You’ve now steered the conversation towards abolishing ICE, something I doubt they’d hear from any of the event’s centrist speakers. Give them your contact info and suggest an immigrant rights group or other leftist organization for them to get involved with. My DSA chapter took this approach and tabled the Hands Off rally in Denver. Not everyone they spoke will become a member. But some will.

dsadenver

A post shared by @dsadenver

This is how we organize America. This is how we win. Leftists must meet the working class where they’re at, then explain why our approach, the one of labor and power, is the best way to fight *this* [gesture to the American Hellscape around me]. Our pitch doesn’t need to be aggressive, nor openly hostile to anyone at the event. We’re there to recruit, and you’re not going to recruit anyone who showed up to the Pancake Convention by telling them pancakes are dog shit and they’re stupid for thinking otherwise. You simply introduce the waffle and explain why you believe its the better choice. Of course, we’re selling anti-fascist activism instead of breakfast food, but you get the idea.

I’m pleased to say many progressive groups understand this dynamic. The Watertown Citizens for Peace & Justice cancelled its weekly vigil for the Palestinian victims of genocide, instead encouraging participants to bring their pro-Palestine message to the Hands Off rally in Boston.³ This was a smart move, as Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts student detained by ICE for writing a pro-Palestine op-ed, was arrested in nearby Somerville. She was explicitly named at the Boston Hands Off rally by Senator Ed Markey.⁴ The Massachusetts Senator doesn’t share my desire for Palestinian liberation, so its crucial there are activists groups present that can connect the audience’s alarm for the abduction of Rumeysa Ozturk to the larger Palestinian cause.

One of the largest Hands Off rally, the Boston demonstration was invigorated by the nearby detainment.

While the hostility towards the Democratic Party is warranted, progressives shouldn’t let it deter us from our goal of building collective power amongst the working class. Only when working Americans are organized through labor unions, tenants’ organizations, and political groups will the American public hold real power. With power in our hands, as opposed to already inside the Democratic Party, workers can bargain, form coalitions, and win political concessions. “Do X and will vote for you. If you do Y, we won’t.” Right now the American working class is unorganized, so of course they believe the only recourse against Trumpism is supporting Democrats! They haven’t been told an alternative exists! How can we blame Americans for not walking the better path, when every aspect of our society has deceived them that the path isn’t real? To turn the median Democrat-voter into fellow travelers, we can either hope a copy of A People's History of the United States falls into their book bag as they leave the library, or we can meet them we’re they’re at (physically and politically) and guide them into our movement. As they’re currently in the streets looking for an alternative to Trump, there is no better time to whisper in their ear. This is important for every issue we hold dear, but I find it most crucial for the cause of Palestine. As more than half of Democrats now sympathize with the Palestinians over Israelis, we should be climbing over each other to introduce them to anti-Zionist politics.⁵ With few Democrats speaking to this pro-Palestine sentiment, it’s the ideal opportunity for us to bring people into the Palestinian liberation movement.

The leftist criticism of the Hands Off rallies and the unwillingness to participate in them is not a new phenomena. It reminds me of the the early-20th century German Left Communists, who insisted parliamentary participation was obsolete, despite holding no seats in the parliament. Correcting their mistake, Vladimir Lenin wrote:

How can one say that “parliamentarianism is politically obsolete”, when “millions” and “legions” of proletarians are still in favor of parliamentarianism!? It is obvious that parliamentarianism in Germany is not yet politically obsolete. It is obvious that the “Lefts” in Germany have mistaken their desire, their politico-ideological attitude, for objective reality. — Left Wing Communism⁶

Those discouraging joining mass-action have made the same mistake Lenin identified in the German Left. They believed parliamentarianism was obsolete, but the German working class did not. In refusing to engage in elections, they were missing an opportunity to make their case to very people they advocated for. Many leftists in modern America, myself included, believe the Democratic Party is obsolete. However, the American working class doesn’t believe that. At least not yet. The public still looks to the Democrats for political leadership, shows up for their planned demonstrations, and listens to their elected politician. If we want that to change, we should tap into the energy of the masses and guide them down a superior path, encouraging them to focus on political and labor organizing that builds power outside of the two-party system. When our power is organized external to the Democratic Party, it is immune from the internal party dynamics that tamper down progressive sentiment. Organizing a tenants’ union not only empowers you with renters’ rights, but it gives you ability to collectively give or withhold votes from political candidates. Now, you have leverage, as opposed to volunteering fro the Democrats and limiting your voice to what is acceptable within their party.

It is my belief socialists, labor organizers, and progressives should be a single step in front of the American working class, advocating for true solutions to their problems. We should go to the demonstrations they go to, and show them we care about their pain. Hell, they should leave thinking we care more about their high rent than they do! However, we must remain only one step in front of the masses, as not to lose sight of what they care about. If we cannot draw a connection between the issues that drove Americans to join the Hands Off protests and our positions, then they will turn away and retreat inside the Democratic Party. As history has shown again and again, centrism is an ineffective mechanism of stopping fascism. So let’s give the American working class a better way to fight.

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1. https://handsoff2025.com/about-1

2. https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/hakeem-jeffries/summary?cid=N00033640

3. https://watertowncitizens.org/event/no-gaza-palestine-vigil-on-april-5-everyone-is-encouraged-to-join-the-hands-off-rally-in-boston/

4. https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/04/05/boston-nationwide-protests-trump-civil-rights

5. https://news.gallup.com/poll/472070/democrats-sympathies-middle-east-shift-palestinians.aspx

6. https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/ch07.htm