Protests complicate start of Trump’s presidency
— Scrappy as ever, Donald Trump dismisses polls showing low approval ratings as “fake news.” But whatever his opinion, active opposition to his go-it-alone presidency appears to be widening.
From corporate boardrooms to the halls of Congress, Trump is facing an unprecedented effort to disrupt even the most basic of his presidential functions. It’s an evolving, largely grass-roots effort that aims to follow Trump and his potential supporters everywhere they go — and there are early signs that it’s having an impact.
The Trump name alone is enough to spark outrage. There are plans for a mass “mooning” of Trump Tower in Chicago. Boycotts are underway of companies that sell Ivanka Trump’s clothing line or advertise on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” where Trump has remained an executive producer.
Congressional offices are being flooded with emails, social media messages and calls jamming phone lines.
Hundreds of protesters are flocking to town halls and local congressional offices, some in strongly Republican districts, to voice their opposition to Trump’s Cabinet picks, health care plans and refugee restrictions.
The goal, say organisers of some of the efforts, is nothing short of complete resistance. It’s a strategy Democrats say they learned from the success of the tea party movement, which stymied president Barack Obama’s agenda through protests, door-todoor political action campaigns and online activism. “The lesson from the last eight years is, sadly, that implacable resistance works,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. “Because it’s all about your base, and I will simply point out that our base is bigger than theirs, and it’s riled up.”
Trump and some Republicans shrug it off as sore losers unwilling to accept the results of the election. The president’s core supporters, in states like Iowa and Wisconsin, applaud him as a man of action, delivering on his campaign promises to move quickly and shake up Washington.
Although recent polls show his approval ratings in the 40s, a historic low for a new president, Trump rejects the surveys as false.
“Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting,” he tweeted. —