In Portland, demonstrators are breaking glass and criticizing Biden — from the left
PORTLAND, Ore — In the hours after President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, hundreds of people gathered for a series of events across the liberal city of Portland, Ore. — not to celebrate, but to mobilize for the struggles to come.
At one demonstration, speakers denounced Biden as a “feckless puppet of the centrist Democratic establishment.” At another, crowds of anti-fascist and racial justice protesters made their doubts about the new president even more explicit, burning a Biden flag in the street. At a third event, several people smashed the windows of the local Democratic Party headquarters. “We are ungovernable,” the group’s banner declared.
While Biden has vowed to try to unify the nation and urged Americans to “stop the shouting” after a bitter election campaign, a Capitol riot and a year of unrest over racial injustices and pandemic restrictions, the first day of his presidency concluded with a scene reminiscent of many under his predecessor: Federal agents in camouflage and riot gear moved into the streets of Portland, unleashing thick clouds of tear gas.
If people were wondering whether Biden’s presidency would ease the conflict, the opening hours of his tenure illustrated the challenge he faces to bridge the lingering gulfs on both sides of the political spectrum — divisions stoked by Donald Trump during his presidency and, to the left, exacerbated by years of inaction over climate change, economic disparity and systemic racism.
Eric Schickler, co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, said Biden was taking office at a time of such vitriol that opposing sides view each other as the enemy.
“He’s fighting against some pretty strong forces,” Schickler said.
Many conservatives, such as those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, remain under the false belief that Biden won a rigged election and that his presidency is illegitimate. “Not my president” has become a common refrain on online message boards. Federal authorities have warned about the threats of far-right extremist groups.
But the demonstrators who mounted protests against Biden in Portland on Wednesday hailed from the left — and their skepticism about what lies ahead reflects the degree to which the new administration will have to build bridges in many directions.