The first few months of the Trump administration have been a disaster for democracy. In many respects, it’s far worse than we could have ever imagined. Expected were the attacks on migrant labor and federal workers. So too with the attempts to dismantle the Department of Education, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — after all, Trump campaigned on these issues.

But the initial signs of shock that rippled through the body politic after the election and the virtual absence of public protest were a surprise; the labor and broad democratic movement seemed almost completely immobilized.

Startling too — though perhaps not as surprising — has been the capitulation of corporate law firms, universities, the bourgeois mass media, and big business, some because of DEI, others because they’re attempting to get off of Trump’s enemies list, and still others out of cowardly attempts to maintain the corporate bottom line.

Thus emboldened, the Trump administration, intent on enforcing its Project 2025 agenda, began to test the limits of the law by means of a studied ignoring of judicial orders. As they’ve dispensed with such limitations on their presumed executive authority, the administration has become increasingly lawless.

It was more than a little heartening, therefore, when Women’s March organizers called for anti-MAGA protests on January 17. It was a brave thing to do, when most had fallen silent. Heeding the call was a sizable and militant assembly in D.C. of women’s groups, Palestine solidarity and peace activists, environmentalists, non-profits, the ACLU, local labor unions, and DSA and CPUSA activists in what will go down in history as the first public display of Resistance 2.0.

Protests have only grown in size and frequency since, most notably on President’s Day and on April 5. They, along with angry town halls in GOP districts and concurrent boycotts of Target, Amazon, and other corporations, have gone a long way in demonstrating that broad sections of the U.S. public are not taking the MAGA offensive lying down.

A leadership vacuum

Still, the initial leadership vacuum presented its own set of problems. Spontaneously organized on Reddit and other social platforms, the racial composition of those who’ve taken to the streets in protest so far reflects the composition and background of those using these platforms, that is, they were predominantly white.

No movement in defense of democracy in the U.S. has any hope for success absent the central participation of people of color — and African Americans, in particular.

People of color and their organizations were bypassed in the process, exacerbating feelings of betrayal by some already aggrieved Black, Latino, and Asian voices in the aftermath of Harris’s defeat, thereby undermining the unity of the people’s front. Yet no movement in defense of democracy in the U.S. has any hope for success absent the central participation of people of color — and African Americans, in particular.

Adding to these challenges, at the beginning of Trump’s “reign,” was the reserved posture of the labor movement, reserved at least until thousands of federal employees’ jobs were axed by DOGE’s savaging of government agencies. And then came the decertification of their unions on the grounds of “national security.”

Reeling from these one-two-punches by the MAGA right, some unions are beginning to respond, joined by postal workers, teachers, and others. May Day marked a new level of labor participation with labor councils around the country joining the events, including a march in Detroit led by sheet metal workers demanding the return of their union brother, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Thus, notwithstanding problems and contradictions, some of them serious, the anti-MAGA coalition is finding its way to its feet, and squaring off against the MAGA power.

And not a day too soon, as fascists in the administration, responding to the initial stirrings of protest, attempt to strike fear in the heart of the resistance by means of intimidation and arrest of elected officials and judges, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, New Jersey’s Rep. LaMonica McIver, and Wisconsin’s Judge Hannah Dugan. Most recently, an aide to N.Y.’s Rep. Jerry Nadler was arrested by Homeland Security after agents unlawfully entered the congressman’s district constituency office during a protest.

On June 14, another national day of protest, “No Kings Day,” will take place across the land as Trump hosts a military parade in D.C. in celebration of his own birthday. The road to “No Kings Day” is being paved by the fight to defeat MAGA’s Medicaid-slashing “big beautiful budget bill,” as well as the ongoing boycotts of Tesla, Target, and, importantly, the ongoing fight against the Gaza genocide. If current trends hold, it’s sure to be a massive undertaking.

Organized labor can stop MAGA in its tracks

Going forward, fighting for the leadership of the working-class and trade union movement of the people’s front is critical. At the end of the day, it’s the organized section of the working class that has the strength and capacity to stop MAGA in its tracks.

Recognizing this, in a move that’s struck a chord on the left, the UAW’s Shawn Fain has called for a May Day general strike in 2028. It’s an interesting proposal, but the question before Brother Fain and the entire labor movement is: At the rate things are going, will there be a labor movement with which to organize any kind of strike come 2028? And if there’s even a hint of that eventuality, what can be done before then to address the growing crisis of governance that’s sweeping the land?

Recognizing the need for action, Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network has called a national march on Wall Street in August. Will the AFL-CIO heed the call just before Labor Day? And what do its own Labor Day protests portend? What more before the midterms can be brought to bear to clear the way to a free and fair election whose results must be upheld?

Those are the stakes. They’re ignored at the country’s collective peril. The fascist danger is clear and present. It has advanced to our doorstep. It must be pushed back before it’s too late.

Image: AFL-CIO at a Hands Off demo by AFL-CIO (X); Solidarity LA March & Rally – March 15, 2025 (SEIU Local 99 / Flickr)