How Projection Fuels the MAGA Movement’s Attacks on No Kings
MAGA’s backlash to No Kings says more about them than us.
I was thinking yesterday about how everything in the MAGA movement is projection. Full-on, textbook projection.
They’ve spent the last couple of days ranting about how the No Kings protests were dangerous, anti-American rallies meant to incite violence. You and I both know that’s bullshit. I was at the No Kings rally in Chicago—it was joyful, patriotic, and packed with people who love this country enough to stand up to fascists.
And I kept thinking: the real “hate America” rally already happened. It was on January 6th, 2021, when Donald Trump incited his followers to violently assault police officers while trying to overturn a fair election. (And let’s not forget: one of Trump’s first acts after re-taking the presidency was to pardon those same cop-beaters—one of whom was just arrested again for threatening to kill Hakeem Jeffries.)
It’s a pattern. Republicans accuse Democrats of things Republicans have already done or desperately want to do themselves.
For four years, they’ve screamed about “lawfare,” about being politically persecuted. In reality, they were just being held accountable for their crimes. Donald Trump is a convicted felon because he defrauded the state of New York. Roger Stone. Steve Bannon. The list goes on. These guys are criminals, full stop. They were being prosecuted by the justice system—because no one is supposed to be above the law.
Is the system perfect? No. But at least it was generally working.
So what do Republicans do when they get power back? After all their whining about lawfare? Trump guts the FBI. Guts the DOJ. Then turns around and orders them to go after his political enemies.
Adam Schiff. James Comey. Tish James. John Bolton. Anyone who’s ever crossed Trump or poses a threat to him—they’re all targets now.
If an FBI agent refuses to perp-walk Comey? Fired. If a DOJ prosecutor says, “We don’t have the evidence to charge Tish James”? Gone. Replaced with loyalists—cronies with no experience who’ll follow orders.
And the truth is, most of these cases will get tossed by judges. They’ll end in not-guilty verdicts—because they’re not real. They’re fake. They’re show trials meant to punish and distract.
And Trump doesn’t care. He just wants to flex his power, settle scores, and bleed his opponents dry—of time, money, and energy. That’s the whole game.
And it doesn’t stop there. Republicans scream that Democrats are canceling free speech, stifling dissent. Meanwhile, Trump threatens ABC with FCC action to get Jimmy Kimmel off the air. He goes after Harvard because it’s not “pro-Trump” enough. He attacks any institution that isn’t bending the knee.
They say Democrats want to destroy American traditions and institutions. But through Project 2025 and every blueprint MAGA has laid out, it’s them who are tearing it all down—piece by piece.
They accuse Democrats of protecting predators. And yet—they’re the ones shielding the Epstein files because Trump’s name is all over them. They literally shut down the government to block Adelita Grijalva from being sworn in—because when she is, she will cast the deciding vote to release those files.
And don’t get me started on the TMZ report yesterday that Trump is preparing to commute Diddy’s sentence as soon as this week.
Who’s protecting pedophiles? Them.
It’s all projection.
And it makes you wonder—what else is projection? What other shit are they flinging at us that’s actually a confession?
We know they want to rig the midterms. They’ve basically said it out loud.
Trump is replacing election integrity officials with loyalists. All over the country, he and J.D. Vance are pushing for aggressive gerrymandering—in the middle of the decade. They’re not even pretending anymore.
Look at what happened in Texas. They’re terrified. Terrified that Americans will hold them accountable for what they’ve done—for gutting this economy and screwing over tens of millions of working-class people.
They know they can’t win fairly. They’ve admitted it. So they’re rigging it.
Again: projection, projection, projection, projection.
The good news is, they’re not subtle. We can see what’s coming. We can prepare.
We just have to take them seriously. Take their words seriously. Take their actions seriously. And use all of it—all of it—to educate the public, rally our people, and work with local election officials to defend democracy at the ground level.
We’ve got to be smart right now. About how we fight for our communities. About how we show up for each other. Because if we do that—if we stay focused—we can win the midterms. We can start steering this thing back. We can block the fascists from reaching their endgame—whatever the hell that is.
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: it’s more important to watch what Trump does than what he says. That’s always been true.
He says a lot of dumb shit. Most of it’s noise. Distraction. Like that AI meme over the weekend where he was literally dumping feces all over America and, weirdly, Harry Sisson? Like—what?
So yeah, ignore the stupid stuff. But never forget: the loudest, most furious accusations? Nine times out of ten, they’re projections.
And don’t ever let them make you afraid to be part of something as righteous and joyful as the No Kings protest. That was one of the most patriotic things I’ve seen in the ten months since Trump clawed his way back into office.
And that protest was just the beginning.
There will be more No Kings protests. More resistance. More chances to fight back. And every time we show up together, we get a little closer to turning this around.
Stay in the fight. Do what you can. Figure out how to be useful.
And for the love of God, take care of yourself.
Thanks Mike. Saw Bernie Sanders on with Jon Stewart last night. We need to follow his lead...know what is right and fight for it. Free speech, free health care, a damn working government that does not throw military parades, build stupid ballrooms, bomb boats or deport innocent people.
And how about Trump demolishing part of the White House to build his $250 million Ballroom for UFC fights and converting it into his version of Saddam's Palace?