This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 15 episode of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”

Do you remember the last No Kings protest? Do you remember how big those crowds were in city after city after city? Well, now MAGA world is trying its hardest to claim that those protests were all fake, that the protesters are paid, radical extremists. Because, in their view, who else would take to the streets to protest Donald Trump right now?

But just one quick glance at the news and you can see exactly why so many Americans could have a reason to protest this administration.

For example, on Thursday, ProPublica reported that it has counted more than 170 U.S. citizens who have been held by Trump’s immigration agents — citizens who ProPublica said have been kicked, dragged and detained for days. I could see a lot of people protesting over that.

Meanwhile, Trump not only has the National Guard and federal agents occupying cities across the country, but on Wednesday, he said that the militarization we’ve seen so far is just the start, adding, “We’re going to go into other cities that we’re not talking about purposely. We’re getting ready to go in.”

I could see a lot of people being upset enough about their cities being overrun by the federal government to protest. That seems reasonable to me.

We are also, of course, more than two weeks into a government shutdown — a shutdown that Republicans refuse to end because they refuse to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that help make health care affordable for millions of Americans.

And while the government remains shut down and hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed without pay, Trump decided to hold a lavish fundraiser at the White House on Wednesday, looking to raise $200 million from wealthy donors to build himself a ballroom. I could see people — even those who vote down-the-line Republican — protesting over that.

People could be mad about Trump weaponizing the Justice Department to go after his perceived enemies, or for how the president is using the government shutdown as an excuse to gut vital government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and Housing and Urban Development. And as an excuse to try to gut the office at the Education Department that oversees special education.

All of those layoffs are likely illegal, and some — like the layoffs in special education — have already been halted by the courts. But I could see that being a reason why many people might be upset enough to protest right now.

Or maybe your groceries cost more. Maybe you have a friend or neighbor who has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Maybe you are mad that Trump and his family keep profiting off their work in government.

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‘The no’s are piling up’: MAGA overreach rejected by airports, colleges, jurors October 16, 2025 / 12:19

The truth is, there are so many reasons to protest right now. But if you listen to Republicans, you’d have to be paid to protest, you’d have to be Marxist and you’d have to hate America.

Other than just being massive, with estimates ranging from 4 to 6 million people, the last No Kings protest in June was notably peaceful: It was filled with grandmas, people with dogs and kids, and lots and lots of great homemade signs. It was definitely not filled with Marxist, America-hating paid protesters.

But that is what MAGA land wants you to think Saturday’s protest will be like. They’re warning that the protests could become riots, that the National Guard might be needed.

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At the same time that Republicans are trying to demonize public protests against Trump in their messaging, we are learning more and more about the Trump administration’s plans to use the power of the federal government to go after groups that help organize peaceful protests.

Last week, three White House officials, four Department of Homeland Security officials and a Justice Department official told Reuters about Trump’s plan to crack down on progressive groups.

As Reuters reports, “The Trump administration plans to deploy America’s counter-terrorism apparatus — including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department — as well as the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department against certain left-wing groups it accuses of funding and organizing political violence.”

A White House list of what groups might fall into that category included ActBlue, a fundraising tool used by many candidates and groups in the Democratic Party, and Indivisible, one of the explicitly nonviolent groups behind the No Kings protests.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal revealed yet another alarming detail about this story, reporting that the Trump administration is preparing sweeping changes at the Internal Revenue Service that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries into left-leaning groups more easily.

As the Journal reports, “The undertaking aims to install allies of President Trump at the IRS criminal-investigative division … to exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations. … Proposed changes could open the door to politically motivated probes.”

The criminal investigative division of the IRS has more than 2,000 agents. It’s the part of the IRS where the agents sometimes carry guns. And now it’s been reported that Trump wants to install an ally to oversee those agents potentially to bring politically motivated investigations.

I know we have already seen politically motivated investigations against individuals Trump perceives as his enemies, like New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, but these would be politically motivated investigations against entire organizations that try to stand up to Trump.

The baseless justification here is that these organizations planned protests where violence occurred. So far, that has not actually been the case. Again, mass protests against Trump have been remarkably peaceful. But part of why Trump and the right are demonizing these peaceful protests, trying to make them seem violent, is to lay the groundwork to justify shutting them down.