Edwin Eisendrath is the former CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Alderman who hosts It’s The Democracy Stupid on Lincoln Square and a weekly radio show on WCPT820AM/ Heartland Signal. Subscribe to his Substack.
I want to talk with you about three things: No Kings, what we need to do between now and Nov. 3, and what we need to do in the days after the election.
Today is another No Kings Day. Autocrats want to convince you that resistance is futile. They coopt powerful forces and hope that makes the rest of us feel powerless. When the big law firm, Paul Weiss, caved without a fight, that sent a signal. When Vanderbilt University caved, it sent a signal. When big media companies like CBS caved, it sent a signal. When nearly all Big Tech companies jumped to the president’s side, it sent a signal. Everything seemed to broadcast the same thing: cooperate and get benefits or stand alone and risk losing everything. Trump accomplished the decapitation of an independent business sector, an independent legal community, an independent university system, and an independent media with enormous speed.
So the first No Kings rally last June was our chance to say, Not so fast. We are not helpless, and we are not alone. The big guys may be collaborators, but we are patriots. Those early rallies were a communion. We learned that we are not alone. We learned that we are not powerless. We learned that our common bonds are stronger than the politics of division. At the first No Kings, I stood next to former Republicans and near a small group calling itself the American Communist Party. These folks do not share ideas about the direction of government. But they shared a commitment to determining that direction through democratic and peaceful means.
Communion. Common bonds. And what Lincoln called mystic chords of memory. Together we bore witness to the outrages of our would-be monarch and his corrupt courtiers. We also bore witness to the pain of our fellow Americans — whether they are struggling with high food and energy prices, or struggling with appalling conditions aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, or struggling to walk freely on American streets where ICE is patrolling. We bore witness. Alex Pretti and Renee Good paid the ultimate price for their witness. Yet our numbers grew.
Still, we face an unprecedented and global attack on freedom and democracy. Russian armies want to erase those ideas in Ukraine. Russian agents and propagandists want to undermine them in Europe. And Putin, in league with Donald Trump, wants to wipe them out in their modern birthplace, here, in the United States.
Today’s No Kings gathering is unlike the previous ones. As I said, by communion and witness, those earlier rallies helped us birth a new force in the land. Today we put that force to work. This is the moment we have planned for. This is the moment of truth.
Today is all about voting. Making sure everyone is registered. Curing registrations that have been improperly purged. And turning those registrations into votes. Millions and millions of votes. Votes cast as early as possible.
Whether or not you attended a rally in person today, you can be part of its purpose. If you have already voted, reach out to others to be sure they vote. If you have not voted, check your registration. You can do that at vote.gov. Make a plan to go vote. And go vote.
Between now and Nov. 3, the number of lies that will be told will have no precedent, and, try as you might, you will not be able to avoid them. Already Trump is claiming elections are rigged. He is in court to stop the count of mailed ballots in California. A candidate for Senate in Minnesota tells MAGA audiences she is proudly pro-life while she posts an ad calling herself a pro-choice Republican. Elon Musk has a website that pretends to help people check their voter registration but instead collects data probably to sell to GOP operatives. A Senate candidate in Texas caught the flu. His opponent says he was sent to an asylum. Meanwhile, a new White House press secretary cosplayed an attorney even though she never passed the bar. Please, don’t let the deluge of lies turn you from your own lived experience. You know what a failure Trump and his MAGA party have been, on every conceivable measure.
Finally, prepare for the fight to come. Not every race will be decided on Election Day. It takes time to count votes that come in by mail or were cast early. Some states do not allow those votes to be counted before Election Day. Remember, the time between the election and the certification of the winners is when Donald Trump is at his most dangerous. Remember Jan. 6.
Expect him to call for the impoundment of ballot boxes. Expect him to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court. Expect him to do everything except allow the votes to be fully and fairly counted.
And prepare to support legal efforts to stop him. Where there are recounts, volunteer to observe. When you hear conspiracy theories and lies, call them out.
And remember every day, although up against great odds and great power, we have come together, we have borne true witness, we have grown our ranks, we have stood firm. And we will not back down.
No Kings Protests Are Breaking Trump
There’s a longstanding debate in politics whether it’s better to be feared than loved. In the viper’s nest known as the Trump administration, most of Dear Leader’s lackeys long to be feared — Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, J.D. Vance, just to name a few.
