Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Supporting Americans’ Fundamental Rights To Free Speech And Peaceful Protest

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor urging Americans to peacefully exercise their constitutional right to free speech and protest at the upcoming No Kings rallies, emphasizing the need to stand against the Trump administration’s threats to democracy. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

In a few days, millions of Americans in cities, towns, and rural areas across the country will exercise one of the most fundamental rights under our Constitution, one of the greatest things about America – exercising the right to peacefully protest and exercising the right to free speech.

This weekend’s No Kings rallies will be an affirmation of what America is all about. We are a democracy in America. We have no kings, despite the fact that Trump has even said he wants to become one and is acting in ways that are a threat to our democracy.

In America, we do not have dictators. And we cannot allow presidents to transform the presidency into some form of dictatorship. And now, more than ever, for that reason, it is vital that Americans from one end of the country to the other stand up for our basic freedoms, because Donald Trump is eroding our democracy day by day by day.

So this weekend, I encourage Americans everywhere, Americans who love this country, who care about our democracy – I don't care if you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, liberal, moderate, or conservative – to march peacefully. The vast majority of Americans want to preserve this democracy. And the No Kings rally says that in a very strong way, where millions of Americans will come together to say just that – that we don't want kings in America.

I will join the marchers, to celebrate what makes this country so great.

And I say to my fellow citizens: do not let Donald Trump and Republicans intimidate you into silence. That's what they want to do. They're afraid of the truth.

Republicans are going apoplectic because Americans are exercising their right to free speech, even though some of them – too many of them – know Donald Trump is threatening our democracy. And the American people are seeing just that. That is the theme, the very appropriate theme, of this weekend’s rallies – no kings.

So, I urge Americans, speak out, use your voice, and exercise your right to free speech. And, of course, there should be no violence from either side.

I say to Americans, show the world how much we love this country, how much we love our values, and how much we love our democracy and want to preserve it. And do not be afraid.

Trump and Republicans want you to be afraid. They don't like free speech when it is free speech they don't want to hear. But we're not going to let them intimidate us.

For weeks, Republicans have tried to vilify these rallies. They call them the most ridiculous of terms, like hate America rallies. These are love America rallies.

They call them terrorist rallies. That’s just despicable. They're trying to scare people away from their basic right to free speech. But we will not be intimidated.

These are not hate rallies, as some of the right-wingers try to say. These are love America rallies, care about America rallies.

Not only is it a right to protest – which we all treasure, or have treasured until recently, and which this new administration seems to not want, rights to free speech or protest when they don’t agree with it – this is also the right thing to do. It’s a necessity, when Donald Trump weaponizes the Justice Department to become his attack dog and go after his political enemies, when he attacks the courts, when he intimidates the free press and tries to tell networks they're going to lose their licenses if they say things he doesn't agree with, when people are arrested and put in jail, American citizens, with no real cause, not even identification of who is making the arrest.

I am so proud of Americans who will stand up peacefully. There is nothing more American than exercising the right to free speech, especially the right to dissent and especially when our democracy is at risk because of what Trump and his Republican cronies are trying to do.

Remember the last No Kings rallies: we saw millions of people of all backgrounds, all corners of the country, gathered peacefully. We saw American flags as far as the eye can see, and that's natural. The American flag stands for free speech. The American flag stands for the right to peacefully protest, even if Trump and his cronies don't even understand that or don't want to understand that.

At the last rallies, we saw people who love this country. We saw people who want to stand up for our American values. We saw people who want to preserve our precious democracy. And that, sadly, is what many Republicans want to silence.

We will not be silenced. Donald Trump and many Republicans in Congress are using intimidation, lies, and bully tactics to prevent people from standing up, speaking out, and exercising our precious constitutional rights. But I say again to every American out there who wants to participate in this weekend’s rallies: do not let Donald Trump or Republicans intimidate you into silence. That is what they want.

That is how dictators evolve: when good people of all different beliefs and backgrounds stay silent. No King’s Day says we will not stay silent.

I say to the American people, do not be afraid to exercise your right to free speech. Be proud that you are doing it. Do not be afraid to exercise your right to free speech. Do not be afraid to protest peacefully against Donald Trump’s eroding of our democracy. Do not be afraid to show how much you love this beautiful democracy, as the Founding Fathers called it, God's noble experiment. We have to keep this precious democracy.

###