NPR⁠84%

At 'No Kings' rallies, anti-Trump protesters speak out against ICE 'cruelty,' Iran war ⁠64%

By Alana Wise⁠0% Chandelis Duster⁠39%

3/28/2026, 9:00:00 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 36 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Emotion, Availability Heuristic, and Politically Left Leaning Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 30.2% saturation with 418 hits. Analysis detected 2,615 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,384 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 58.8% and a BS Rank of ⁠64% (7,503 of 20,516 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 63.40% of the article peer group.

Protesters took to the streets in cities across the U.S. on Saturday to oppose the policies of President Trump, according to organizers of the "No Kings" rallies, with demonstrators energized by issues including the administration's immigration enforcement tactics and the war in Iran. 
Organizers for No Kings, a progressive coalition of activists, planned more than 3,000 events nationwide, with several more planned abroad, including in Mexico and Canada. 
This is the third series of nationwide protests organized by the group, which says Trump's actions in office are more akin to those of a monarch than a democratically elected leader. 
In response to a request for comment about the planned protests, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed them as "Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions" and listed what she said were some of the campaign's "major leftist" financial backers. 
"The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them," Jackson said. 
'Useless, vain war' 
But those attending the protests said they had legitimate grievances with the president and his allies and hoped that mass, nonviolent demonstrations might help make a change. 
In Washington, D.C., crowds gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. 
Katherine Arnold of Eastern Shore, Md., who works as a physical therapist for special needs children, said she is "absolutely appalled by the hypocrisy and the corruption of this government." 
Referring to Trump's comments on the war in Iran, Arnold said, "I'm so frustrated that he can so flippantly say 'some lives will be lost.' 
But he doesn't put anything on the line," she said. 
"He's a draft dodger himself, his kids don't do it. 
So he's talking about our kids!" 
Carina Kagan is a Mexican-Filipino American whose daughter is in the Army stationed overseas. 
She drove more than two hours from Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., to Kansas City, Mo., to protest the U.S. war in Iran. 
"Right now, the military boots on the ground possibility is the biggest thing in my head," she said of the potential for a ground deployment of U.S. troops. 
"It's just a useless, vain war by a demented, old man, and to have to know that all these Americans might die for that — it's just top of mind." 
Trump has said he doesn't plan to put boots on the ground, but he also hasn't ruled it out. 
On Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the U.S. could achieve its goals in Iran without ground troops. 
Trump's stated goals for starting the war in Iran have shifted over the weeks, but one consistent objective he and top administration officials have pursued is the elimination of the country's ballistic missile arsenal and ensuring Iran never acquires nuclear weapons. 
Kagan has attended No Kings events before and said that she feels a responsibility as a Latino person to make her presence known. 
"We have all our Mexican family in San Diego with all our Mexican friends and whatnot. 
And I don't know if they're documented or not — that's not my deal, they're my friends and family — but a lot of them are scared, and they're afraid to have a voice in the community." 
The last round of protests, this past October, saw some 5 million attendees spread across about 2,600 demonstrations, according to No Kings. 
'I shouldn't have to carry my papers' 
At an event in Rutland, Vt., hundreds of people had gathered by early afternoon, including Hannah Abrams. 
"I'm here because of the incredible amount of cruelty that's going on in the world," she said. 
This was Abrams third time attending a No Kings rally. 
She said she hopes there's no need for a fourth. 
"It's just cruel conditions for people who are taken by ICE, it's the cruel way that they're taken," she said. 
"It's the cruelty of our economy and how we are paying more, even though we're told that the economy has improved. 
We're cruel towards other countries, taking their leaders and deciding those leaders' fates. 
I think the people who are in our military are being asked to sacrifice their lives not for freedom, but for money-hungry rulers, and that is cruel." 
Strict immigration policies and mass deportations, which have been a central focus of the Trump administration, was also on the minds of rally goers. 
Mario del Obaldia in St. 
Paul, Minn., who held a sign reading "I shouldn't have to carry my papers," said he came to the U.S. from Panama when he was 4 years old. 
He said has been in the U.S. for 71 years. 
"It seems silly that … people have to wander around with papers, with their documents saying what they are," he said. 
"It just seems not quite American." 
'People are outraged' 
Quentin Anderson, who attended a protest in Baton Rouge, La., sees the event as a positive, cathartic outlet. 
But adds that the rallies are just part of a larger effort to effect change. 
"It just feels like an explosion of both frustration but also belief. 
Belief that this sort of congregation can result in something meaningful," he said. 
"It's not just — show up to the protest, express your frustration. 
It's — show up to the protest, express your frustration, then turn around and vote in November." 
Bill McKibben is the Vermont-based founder of Third Act — a No Kings-affiliated group comprising people who are 60 years old and up. 
He says intergenerational solidarity is a key part of the movement and that there are many older people willing to take to the streets alongside their younger compatriots. 
"If you've been to any of the No Kings protests that have happened so far, you'll see a lot of people with hairlines like mine, which is to say, scant," he joked. 
"People of all kinds are outraged by what's happening in the country right now, but older people have a particular role to play here." 
He says that even older Americans who have lived through several presidencies describe the current one as the closest the country has come to authoritarian rule. 
"This is a very weird moment in our political history," he said. 
"Look, there have been plenty of presidents in my lifetime I didn't much like or didn't agree with politically, but there's never been any that I thought were fascist, and I think that that's very clear what we're now starting to deal with in this country." 
President Trump has said repeatedly that he's not a fascist or a king and has previously scorned the protests. 
"I think it's a joke," he said last year of the October demonstrations. 
"I looked at the people. 
They're not representative of this country." 
He has, however, simultaneously leaned into the royal comparisons, even while mocking critics, posting an AI-generated video of himself wearing a crown. 
Visibility Brigade leader Dana Glazer, who is based in the New Jersey suburbs, similarly likened Trump's politics to fascism, which he said thrives when people are isolated from their communities. 
Coming together in protest, he said, helps combat that social seclusion. 
Glazer and other members of his group plan to protest Saturday in Paramus, where the organization was founded. 
"We are a force of treating people with individual human dignity and respect, and connection," he said. 
"And that's what brings us together. 
That's why this kind of event is powerful, is that people suddenly go, 'Oh wow, we have some power.' 
" 
He said he hopes that people will see events like No Kings and be inspired to peacefully protest even when there aren't huge events planned. 
"The reason why we're in this mess is because there has been a lack of civic engagement overall because people have been trained that just by nature of voting every two to four years that they're doing their civic duty," he said. 
"We're obviously in a state of crisis right now, but we're in that state of crisis because of this." 
NPR's Meg Anderson, WAMU reporter Alex Koma, Emily Younker from KCUR, and Nina Keck from Vermont Public Radio contributed to this story 
Correction March 28, 2026 
In a previous version of this story, a photo caption mistitled the Margaret Atwood book. 
The name of the book is The Handmaid's Tale. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 7.2%Alana Wise: 4.8%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.4%Confirmation Bias7.2%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.6%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 10.5%Alana Wise: 10.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.8%Availability Heuristic10.5%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 3.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.8%Hindsight Bias3.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.4%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 5.3%Alana Wise: 11.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 11.1%Framing Effect5.3%This article: 0.5%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Loss Aversion0.5%This article: 1.7%Alana Wise: 3.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Status Quo Bias1.7%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 6.9%Alana Wise: 7.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.4%Optimism Bias6.9%This article: 4.1%Alana Wise: 2.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%Pessimism Bias4.1%This article: 30.2%Alana Wise: 10.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 11.3%Negativity Bias30.2%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.7%Alana Wise: 0.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Fundamental Attribution Error0.7%This article: 1.6%Alana Wise: 0.4%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias1.6%This article: 6.5%Alana Wise: 3.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%In-Group Bias6.5%This article: 2.6%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias2.6%This article: 2.2%Alana Wise: 3.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Halo Effect2.2%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 2.2%Alana Wise: 2.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.7%Recency Bias2.2%This article: 3.3%Alana Wise: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.5%Primacy Effect3.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 8.7%Alana Wise: 2.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Ad Hominem8.7%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 4.7%Alana Wise: 7.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 6.1%Appeal to Authority4.7%This article: 3.4%Alana Wise: 1.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.5%False Dilemma3.4%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.3%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 1.2%Alana Wise: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Circular Reasoning1.2%This article: 8.4%Alana Wise: 5.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 4.4%Hasty Generalization8.4%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 1.7%Alana Wise: 1.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.7%Bandwagon1.7%This article: 13.4%Alana Wise: 14.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 6.6%Appeal to Emotion13.4%This article: 4.4%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.9%Begging the Question4.4%This article: 4.3%Alana Wise: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)4.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.7%Alana Wise: 0.4%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.4%Burden of Proof0.7%This article: 0.4%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.4%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 7.6%Alana Wise: 10.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Anecdotal7.6%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 3.8%Alana Wise: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.5%Ambiguity (Equivocation)3.8%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 3.3%Alana Wise: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Personal Incredulity3.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.5%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 6.6%Alana Wise: 1.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.3%Unattributed Quote6.6%This article: 4.3%Alana Wise: 0.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.9%Quote-first Misdirection4.3%This article: 2.2%Alana Wise: 4.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.1%Biased Writer Voice2.2%This article: 7.7%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.0%Indoctrination7.7%This article: 9.1%Alana Wise: 3.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias9.1%This article: 4.3%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Politically Right Leaning Bias4.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

1384 words analyzed.

Speakers

11speakers72%attributed speech388writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 43 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 0.0% coverageNo Kings • 31 words • 100.0% coverageAbigail Jackson • 37 words • 100.0% coverageAbigail Jackson • 22 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageKatherine Arnold • 30 words • 0.0% coverageKatherine Arnold • 25 words • 100.0% coverageKatherine Arnold • 10 words • 0.0% coverageKatherine Arnold • 10 words • 100.0% coverageKatherine Arnold • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageCarina Kagan • 23 words • 0.0% coverageCarina Kagan • 28 words • 0.0% coverageCarina Kagan • 30 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageMarco Rubio • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 41 words • 0.0% coverageCarina Kagan • 23 words • 100.0% coverageCarina Kagan • 16 words • 0.0% coverageCarina Kagan • 37 words • 0.0% coverageNo Kings • 22 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageHannah Abrams • 17 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageHannah Abrams • 10 words • 0.0% coverageHannah Abrams • 20 words • 100.0% coverageHannah Abrams • 21 words • 0.0% coverageHannah Abrams • 13 words • 0.0% coverageHannah Abrams • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 0.0% coverageMario del Obaldia • 5 words • 0.0% coverageMario del Obaldia • 28 words • 0.0% coverageMario del Obaldia • 10 words • 0.0% coverageMario del Obaldia • 21 words • 100.0% coverageMario del Obaldia • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 100.0% coverageQuentin Anderson • 18 words • 0.0% coverageQuentin Anderson • 15 words • 0.0% coverageQuentin Anderson • 12 words • 0.0% coverageQuentin Anderson • 13 words • 0.0% coverageQuentin Anderson • 12 words • 0.0% coverageQuentin Anderson • 17 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageBill McKibben • 28 words • 0.0% coverageBill McKibben • 32 words • 0.0% coverageBill McKibben • 24 words • 0.0% coverageBill McKibben • 26 words • 0.0% coverageBill McKibben • 12 words • 0.0% coverageBill McKibben • 46 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 13 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 5 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageDana Glazer • 30 words • 100.0% coverageDana Glazer • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageDana Glazer • 17 words • 0.0% coverageDana Glazer • 6 words • 0.0% coverageDana Glazer • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageDana Glazer • 25 words • 100.0% coverageDana Glazer • 42 words • 100.0% coverageDana Glazer • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Abigail Jackson

100%flagged-word coverage
59 attributed words5.9% of attributed speech56% writer coverage
0%50.0%100.0%Quote-first Misdirection+100.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Abigail Jackson: 100.0%100.0%Politically Right Leaning +100.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Abigail Jackson: 100.0%100.0%Unattributed Quote-3.4 ptsWriter: 3.4%Abigail Jackson: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.