Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Richmond to protest the Trump administration’s policies Tuesday.
“I had to come over and let it be known that I’m against all this stuff that’s going on with Trump,” said Jack Hazell, who traveled from Harrisonburg to participate. “My dad fought in World War II against Hitler. Now we’ve got another Hitler on our hands in our own country. That’s hard to handle.”
The protest was organized by 50501, a grassroots volunteer organization that says they are dedicated to the “nonviolent defense of American democracy” by “protesting the hostile takeover of our democracy by the Trump administration and Elon Musk.”
Nancy Curry, a resident of Richmond’s West End, said she attended the protest because of the potential cuts to welfare programs like Medicaid and Social Security coming from the Republican Congress and Trump administration.
Recent legislation passed by the House of Representatives puts that funding in jeopardy.
“I’m personally impacted by Social Security and Medicare,” Curry said. “I have friends who are impacted by Medicaid. It’s atrocious, and it’s really scary to me.”
Curry said she has invested six figures into Social Security during her 40-year career and now people are telling her she does not deserve to receive the benefits.
“People are out there saying, ‘cut the benefits for Social Security, cut the benefits for Medicare. Y’all don’t deserve it.’ They need to take a step back and educate themselves before they just rattle off some talking points.”
Women’s healthcare was also a big topic for attendees at the event.
Jess Anderson, a Democrat seeking the nomination in HD-71 against Republican Del. Amanda Batten, spoke to the crowd.
“We have a governor who has multiple bills on his desk to protect contraceptives,” she said. “He’s already vetoed them once, and I’m damn sure he’s gonna veto them again.”
One of the bills Anderson referenced would legally protect obtaining or using “any drug, device, or biological product intended for use in the prevention of pregnancy.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed similar legislation last year and said it would cause an “overly broad cause of action against political subdivisions and parents, as well as medical professionals.”
Democrats plan to use this bill as a talking point in November’s elections when Virginia will be choosing a new governor. Senate Democrats forced Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, the likely Republican nominee for governor, to take a vote on the bill and go on record against it during the legislative session earlier this year.
“So this November, when we have Virginia’s elections, we damn sure better hold the line for our Democratic [gubernatorial] candidate, Abigail Spanberger,” Anderson said.
Rae Pickett, the communications director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, also spoke to the crowd.
“I want to make something extremely clear, we are in the fight for our lives,” she said. “We are facing attacks on our rights, our health and the care we need to survive. We will not back down.”
Danny Finney, a Richmond resident for decades, said he showed up Tuesday with his saxophone to “stand firm” against oligarchies and autocracies.
“The people know how to do what the people know how to do,” he said while noting that he believes billionaires should not exist. “[The people] know how to govern themselves. It took 250 years, correct? To actually fashion our government in such a way that more and more people are being represented and being protected by civil rights. And all of these things are not just being eroded, they are being thrown out. They are being destroyed on purpose. It’s Project 2025’s whole state of purpose.”
The Trump administration’s actions so far have sparked fear in some, while they have been celebrated by others.
The spending cuts impacting federal programs across the country and here in Virginia have caused communications chaos for both Democrats and Republicans.
Youngkin faced pushback last week from Democrats after he announced a jobs portal to help federal workers who are being laid off.
Youngkin expressed support for the cuts, which led to Democrats pouncing quickly on the comments.
“I don’t believe that the federal government downsizing is wrong, and in fact, we need to press forward and drive efficiencies in our federal government,” Youngkin said at an event last Monday. “And as a result of driving those efficiencies, I do expect that some Virginians will lose their jobs.”
Democrats responded quickly.
“The job of Virginia’s Governor is to always stand up for Virginians — even if that means standing up to your own party,” Spanberger said in response.
“The number one issue that we have right now is that we have a governor who has basically abdicated his responsibility to look out for Virginians. And it’s sad,” Speaker of the House Don Scott said.
House Democrats are also planning to take steps in a special session to address the spending cuts, though they do not specifically know what those steps will be yet.
Scott said they are gathering information about what could benefit Virginians who are impacted by the cuts the most before deciding on what they want to accomplish during the special session.
“I gotta get some information,” he said. “ I’m gonna do something that Elon Musk and Trump didn’t do — we’re gonna get information and then make decisions based on that data.”
Curry, on Tuesday, said she is worried about the people – herself included – who are going to be impacted by these cuts.
“People are going to be hurt,” she said. “There are going to be a lot of people who are going to have problems – where are they going to live, how are they going to pay the bills, how are they going to make the payments, making choices between medicines and food – it’s atrocious.”