Thousands march in Chicago against Trump’s ‘anti-woman agenda’
CHICAGO: Thousands of people made their disdain for President Donald Trump heard at a rally and march in Chicago aimed at galvanising support for Democrats in the upcoming November midterm elections.
A giant ‘Baby Trump’ flew over the crowd. Trump was depicted as ‘El Diablo’ on a high-flying flag. Demonstrators waved ‘Vote Blue’ banners – the message was unmistakable.
Angered by the bitter fight over new US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and what they called the ‘anti-woman agenda’ of the Trump administration and the Republican Party, women – and men – descended on the Windy City’s picturesque Grant Park.
The ‘March to the Polls’ event – which began in the downtown park and wrapped up after a twoblocks-long crowd marched to the centre of the business district – came just as voter registration deadlines neared in most states and early voting ramped up in more than a dozen states including
We wanted to lead into the midterms and encourage women to get out and vote. Jessica Scheller, head of Women’s March Chicago
Illinois.
Hillary Clinton appeared in a video message played on a giant screen, encouraging people to register to vote.
“Imagine being able to hold this administration accountable,” Clinton said, echoing the general sentiment that the election is a barometer of Trump’s popularity. The demonstration included a street festival-like ‘Voter Village’ wheredozensofcommunitygroups and politicians set up booths to reach new voters and encourage political involvement.
“We wanted to lead into the midterms and encourage women to get out and vote,” Jessica Scheller, head of Women’s March Chicago, which organised the event, told AFP.
The loud crowd of thousands of men, women and even children, marched through downtown Chicago chanting ‘Vote them out!’ Some were encouraged to head to early voting locations nearby to cast ballots.
Iyahna Wilson, a 19-year-old volunteer who assisted in the march, voted for the first time – motivated by racial justice issues and gender rights.
“I never really thought that my vote was going to make a change,” Wilson told AFP moments after she exited a downtown polling location, raising her hands up in celebration. It is that mindset that organisers were fighting to change with an event they specifically aimed to take place in the runup to the midterm election.
“I would like women to take charge of the midterms,” protester Sarah Sieracki told AFP. The 23-year-old from the nearby Republican-dominated state of Indiana was the type of voter organisers were hoping to encourage to get involved. — AFP