Opinion: They Shout “Dictator” Now — But Stayed Silent During Years of Government Overreach

By Amanda Szulc, Opinion Contributor

“Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Those words from the cross were the first thing that came to my mind as I drove past a “No Kings” protest in my hometown of Joliet. I wasn’t surprised, but at this point it has moved beyond mere annoyance. It has become yet another sobering example of the dangerous, historically illiterate rhetoric that large parts of the media and activist class have been pushing for far too long.

On June 14, 2025, the “No Kings” protests began. Organized by the progressive group Indivisible, these demonstrations protested what organizers called the “authoritarian” policies of President Donald Trump and alleged corruption within his administration.

The protests directly coincided with the U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade, which also fell on President Trump’s birthday. On October 18, 2025, the “No Kings” protests returned with even greater intensity, fueled by what critics describe as false narratives.

According to Indivisible, President Trump is an out-of-control dictator who is stripping Americans of their rights, tearing families apart, and completely abusing his power. These protests were designed to raise awareness of these claims and draw attention to what organizers view as the “danger” and “damage” President Trump and his administration have inflicted on America.

The ignorance on display is astounding. President Trump is not a king. America is not a dictatorship. In fact, our Founding Fathers fought a revolution 250 years ago precisely to free us from monarchical rule and arbitrary power.

The Founding Fathers were fiercely anti-monarchical. They had studied history and Scripture and concluded that concentrated, unaccountable power inevitably corrupts. In the Declaration of Independence, they listed a long train of abuses by King George III, charging him with everything from dissolving legislatures to imposing taxes without consent. Their solution was not to replace one king with another, but to create a constitutional republic with checks and balances, separation of powers, and regular elections.

The president is not a sovereign; he is an executive whose powers are limited and enumerated. He serves at the pleasure of the people, not by divine right or force.

George Washington himself rejected the idea of kingship so strongly that he stepped down after two terms, establishing a precedent that stood for over 150 years. When some suggested he be crowned king, he recoiled. The Founders understood that even the best of men are fallen, and absolute power would eventually corrupt even the most virtuous leader.

To stand in 2026 and shout “No Kings” at a president who was elected under that same constitutional framework is not only ahistorical — it is reckless. It treats the peaceful transfer of
power and the will of the voters as irrelevant. It suggests that democratic outcomes are only legitimate when they produce the “right” results.

That is the very mindset the Founders warned against.

What makes this rhetoric even more troubling is the glaring hypocrisy of those who now cry “No Kings.” Many of the same voices protesting Trump as a fascist dictator remained largely silent — or actively supportive — when Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker exercised sweeping executive power during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For nearly two years, Illinoisans lived under some of the strictest and most prolonged lockdowns in the country. Pritzker issued executive order after executive order, closing businesses, schools, and churches while deeming liquor stores and big-box retailers “essential.”

Families were told they could not gather for holidays. People were required to show vaccination passports or submit to weekly testing simply to go grocery shopping or keep their jobs. Those who could not comply for religious or medical reasons were shunned, escorted out of stores, denied entry to public spaces, and in some cases cut off from family and friends.

Mask mandates, capacity limits, and arbitrary rules dictated daily life for ordinary citizens while politicians often exempted themselves. The message was clear: compliance was mandatory, dissent was dangerous, and questioning authority was selfish.

Pritzker’s “reign” continues today with tax hikes and executive orders that do little but harm Illinois citizens. Yet the outrage is reserved almost exclusively for the other side. This selective memory is not harmless. It reveals a troubling double standard: executive overreach is only tyranny when it comes from the other side.

The hypocrisy runs even deeper when we examine who is actually behind these protests. According to a Fox News investigation, approximately 500 activist groups with an estimated $3 billion in combined annual revenues are fueling the “No Kings” movement.

Many of these groups are tied to Neville Roy Singham, a self-described communist tech tycoon living in China, who has poured money into radical socialist and communist organizations for nearly a decade.

Groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), the People’s Forum, the ANSWER Coalition, CodePink, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization are not hiding their agenda. Internal messages reveal explicit calls to “turn a day of protest into long-term gains for the people’s movement” and to spread a “revolutionary message.”

Some contingents openly reference Maoist strategies and use imagery invoking Stalin, Mao, and even Hamas targets. This is not organic grassroots anger — it is a well-funded, ideologically driven effort to radicalize protests and push for systemic “revolution” under the guise of opposing “kings.”

The contradictions don’t end with current policy debates. The recent history of Democratic leadership reveals a pattern of actions that undermine their own rhetoric about democracy and transparency.

Joe Biden was pushed out of the presidential race, and Kamala Harris was installed as the nominee without a single primary vote. This bypassing of the democratic process went largely unchallenged by the same voices now claiming to defend democracy in the streets.

Democrats tried everything in their power to remove Trump from the ballot. Court cases and lawsuits filed against him were subsequently thrown out. The irony of attempting to eliminate voter choice while claiming to protect democracy seems lost on these protesters.

The misinformation fueled by the media and Democratic political leaders during the COVID pandemic was nothing short of horrific. People were forced to choose between taking an experimental vaccine or losing their jobs through federal mandates that were later ruled unconstitutional. Churches were shut down while protests were deemed acceptable. Yet now, those same leaders lecture Americans about transparency and bodily autonomy.

The “No Kings” protests represent a fundamental disconnect from reality. Protesters are outraged over policies designed to keep them safe while seemingly unconcerned about actual threats to their freedom and wellbeing.

To any person with a logical and sound mindset, this makes absolutely no sense. The “No Kings” protests are built on a foundation of contradictions, fueled by misleading narratives, and disconnected from the reality of what President Trump has actually accomplished for American safety and prosperity.

Scripture warns us: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness…” (Isaiah 5:20). It also commands us to “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them”. (Ephesians 5:11). We are called to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.” (Micah 6:8) — not to remain silent while dangerous rhetoric erodes the foundations of our republic.

True common sense recognizes that securing borders protects communities, that enforcing laws maintains order, and that putting America first is not authoritarianism — it’s basic governance. Until protesters are willing to engage with facts rather than feelings, and logic rather than rhetoric, these demonstrations will remain nothing more than political theater divorced from the reality most Americans experience every day.

As Christians, we must speak the truth in love — but we must speak it. The time for polite silence has passed. The stakes are too high, and the hypocrisy too glaring. Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do — but let us not join them in their blindness.