From Philly to Bucks, protesters rally against Trump and Musk on Presidents’ Day: ‘Not a king!’

Activists in Philadelphia and Bucks County spent Presidents’ Day demonstrating against President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who is attempting a significant overhaul of the federal government.

The local protests — which coincided with other demonstrations nationwide — come roughly one month into Trump’s second administration that has already been filled with controversial executive orders, pardons, and policy decisions.

One of the most contentious points has been Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a commission that is charged with cutting government waste. DOGE has been making its way around various federal agencies, urging employees to leave their jobs, and seeking access to sensitive information at federal agencies.

The protesters’ response? “You’ve got an enemy in Pennsylvania.”

That’s according to a shirt worn by Jack Inacker, a Democratic organizer and Air Force veteran who joined hundreds of anti-Trump protesters in front of Philadelphia City Hall on Monday afternoon.

“This administration has made an enemy of every single person gathered here today,” Inacker said in a speech.

Drivers honked their horns in support of the protesters, who faced harsh winds to march together up the Parkway to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, carrying signs with messages against Trump and Musk.

Meanwhile in Sellersville in Bucks County — the only Philly collar county that Trump won in the 2024 election — a similar scene unfolded. Crowds of anti-Trump demonstrators braved the bitter cold and lined the sidewalks of the town’s Main Street, holding signs, chanting, and garnering supportive honks from cars passing by.

In Philadelphia, State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Philadelphia) shouted out the phone number to get in touch with members of Congress as he stood behind a podium with a giant QR code to get involved with local activism. In Sellersville, organizers passed around QR codes and sign-up sheets.

“We aim to get the attention of our elected officials in D.C. — Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick and Senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick — and demand they stand by their oath to defend the Constitution and use their elected authority to do all that is necessary to support the enforcement of court orders,” said Vera Cole, an organizer with the event who lost a 2024 bid for the Pennsylvania House in Upper Bucks.

In a sea of signs like “Abort Musk” or “Real Life Twilight Zone” Kyle Esposito, 31, stood out as the makeshift “king” and “villain” of the Sellersville protest

Donning a plush purple cape and plastic gold crown, Esposito said he’s representing Trump and Musk, shouting about pensions, “robbing” people of their rights, or “cutting through all of the guardrails.”

“The king thing, I think, resonates for people in a very American way,” Esposito said. “And it’s like we have to remind people that this is not who we are for a reason, and that we’re giving into what is autocracy, and the king is a different example of that.”

Protesters in Philadelphia also compared Trump and Musk to wannabe kings, with some protesters carrying signs declaring “not a king!” Matt Stone, a pastor, wore a sign that said “Jesus is my king, who is yours?” Stone, 40, of Rockledge, said the king in question could be “Trump or Elon, take your pick.”

“I believe strongly that we in the United States fought very hard to not have kings in general, and I have one king already. I don’t need another one,” he said.

Stone said he protested Trump’s election in 2016 but not his first administration, and that while there were “horrible things” Trump did in his first term, it was “nothing on the scale of cruelty and incompetence as the last month.”

He said he is “incredibly angry and sad” to see Christianity used to bolster support for Trump, and he doesn’t “understand how people are ignoring Jesus’ calls to love and compassion.”

As Democrats on the national level attempt to hone their opposition to Trump, local Democrats think grassroots protests are key to standing up to the president and his allies.

While some of the pink pussy hat wearers and megaphone holders have been protesting for years, others showed up for the first time on Monday.

Laura Rivera, 65, of Sellersville, said Democrats at the national level are “running scared with their tail between their legs.” Rivera had never attended a protest prior to Monday’s event but she felt it resonated on a more personal level.

“You’re talking to people up close and personal, you’re inviting your friends that you know they feel the same way you do,” Rivera said.

Kathleen Wright, 80, a retired Haverford College philosophy professor who lives in Philadelphia, said she believes Monday’s protest is “a beginning of people rising up and realizing we’ve been conned by Trump, and [that] Musk can blackmail all of us, and it’s the beginning of a bad chapter in American history if we don’t stop what’s going on.”

Wright said she was in the front with a megaphone during the Vietnam War protests, which she said felt different because it seemed like “everybody was deeply anti-war across the population.”

In contrast, she said those against Trump are now “sort of in the minority,” given that Trump won the popular vote in 2024, unlike during his 2016 win. Now, activists “have to urge people to think about what’s really going on,” and “what’s not going on, like lowering prices and being for working people.”

“And then we will grow in size as a force of resistance,” she added.