G. Edward Johnson / Wikimedia
The anti-Trump protests that took place in April, initiated by Democrats who lost the election, bore many hallmarks of a classic color revolution. These 1,200 so-called «Hands Off» resistance demonstrations looked very much like a rehearsal for a future large-scale revolt
Lacking a charismatic and authoritative leader capable of uniting the fragmented Democratic Party — or a grand idea that could inspire its increasingly diverse constituency — the neoliberals decided that a full-blown confrontation was not in their best interest.
As political analyst Sergei Markov put it: «Biden? Everybody knows he’s a sick man, mentally unfit. Kamala Harris? A rubber dummy. They had another leader — Gavin Newsom — but he was politically destroyed by the wildfires in Los Angeles. In the end, they have no one».
Trying to fill that leadership vacuum is former President Barack Obama, who has become the chief ideologue of what remains, for now, a peaceful uprising. Speaking at Hamilton College, a private liberal arts school in the town of Clinton, New York, the former White House tenant lashed out at Trump for rolling back «diversity, equity, and inclusion» (DEI) programs on college campuses — programs that promote gender pluralism, LGBTQ+ agendas, and a departure from traditional family values.
Obama also accused the Trump administration of trying to dismantle the international order established after World War II.
Given the remarkable success neoliberals have had in brainwashing young Americans (under Biden, there has been a sharp increase in non-traditional sexual identification among youth), Obama’s appeal to students reveals the Democrats’ strategic goal: to swell their protest ranks with younger supporters.
The statistics from the April protests — about 400,000 registered participants — suggest that the so-called Deep State, at least the faction that refused to make a deal with Trump, still has firepower.
The demonstrations, which took place in more than a thousand cities in all 50 states, were coordinated by some 200 citizen groups, including Indivisible and MoveOn, both of which also organized anti-Trump protests during his first term.
Placards read: «Not My President», «Stop the Evil», and «Dump Trump».
Indivisible strategists even resurrected previously taboo slogans: «Resist like it’s 1938 Nazi Germany» and «Fascism is alive, well, and living in the White House». Until recently, such unsubstantiated comparisons to fascism were seen as a sign that rational argument had given way to name-calling.
Meanwhile, the protesters’ main demands were more specific and boiled down to three points: Trump must stop catering to the billionaires and oligarchs who helped fill his campaign coffers. There was harsh criticism of Elon Musk, the defector from the Democratic camp, tech mogul and owner of the social platform X, which remains outside the control of the neoliberals. A statement from the anti-Trump organizing committee read: «Trump and Musk are running America like they own it. Their hands are on everything — our health care, our personal information, our jobs, our public services. This is a crisis. The time to act is now».
A growing movement orchestrated by Democrats under the banner «Cancel Tesla» is urging major investors to pull their money. Tesla car owners are being encouraged to dump the allegedly «toxic» brand. In the midst of this hate campaign, there have been repeated acts of vandalism against Tesla dealerships.
Of course, no color revolution is complete without ritual denunciations of «widespread corruption» and fiery condemnations of plans to cut welfare and Medicaid.
Third, but no less important to the shadow handlers behind the scenes, was the demand to end attacks on transgender people, immigrants, and other «marginalized communities» that remain crucial electoral bases for the Democrats.
For Trump and his team, the most damaging blows may come in the form of accusations that Americans’ financial well-being is deteriorating. Indeed, some economists believe this could be the result of an ill-conceived tariff policy.
Although Washington has quickly halted the imposition of discriminatory trade restrictions on many foreign partners, the mere escalation of a sanctions war with China could drive up the cost of co-produced or imported consumer goods — triggering inflation and hitting ordinary Americans the hardest.
Within the first 100 days of reform, social spending and the government apparatus have already been slashed. Some 200,000 white-collar workers have been laid off — and they are unlikely to remain silent. Many are likely to join the democratic opposition.
The momentum of protest is clearly building. But the April «rehearsal» revealed the opposition’s underlying weakness. The number of protesters was significantly lower than during Trump’s first term. The largest gathering was in Washington, D.C., with about 20,000 participants. By comparison, feminist groups alone mobilized more than 100,000 supporters in the nation’s capital in 2017.
«There is still apathy among the Democratic base, which hasn’t recovered from its recent electoral defeat», noted political analyst Malek Dudakov. «The internal divisions within the party are actually working in the White House’s favor».
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt was blunt about the protests: «The Democratic Party has been completely taken over by far-left lunatics. They have record-low approval ratings because these are the people they claim to represent… They hate the almost 80 million Americans who voted for [Trump]. The Democrats have officially become the party of the insane».
Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who has quietly positioned himself as a key backchannel figure with Trump’s team, suggested that the protests may well be an attempt to stage a color revolution. «If the ‘Hands Off’ protests are so well organized», he said, «you have to wonder if the Deep State is using the same color revolution tactics it used abroad — only this time, at home».
Still, there’s reason to believe that the April protests had more modest goals than overthrowing Trump «here and now» or plunging the nation into a state of dual power. This was a stress test. A dry run. The Democrats are clearly planning a comeback — but not in a rash or impulsive way. Their efforts are constrained by a deep internal party crisis.
The prognosis? Globalists and neoliberals will spend the run-up to the 2026 midterms preparing their ground. If Americans face worsening economic conditions by then, they will try to retake at least one chamber of Congress. This window may be the most opportune time to launch a real attempt at a color revolt.