Sunday, January 22, 2017

Worldwide Protests of the Inauguration of President Trump

Yesterday was Donald Trump's first full day in office following his inauguration on Friday. Normally, the inauguration of a new president is itself news.

Obviously, it was news, but it was not nearly the biggest news generating headlines. 

Not this time. Not with this president.

Already, news headlines are being generated following President Trump's officially taking over the White House, although these are not the headlines that he would have liked. Pictures revealed that there were far, far fewer people who attended Trump's inauguration day ceremonies than eight years earlier with Obama. Predictably, the Trump team seemed bothered by that, and countered with arguments and photographs that suggested that there was at least one million to one and a half million in attendance, according to President Trump himself. 

There were anti-Trump and Women's protests and marches all over the world, to show solidarity with resistance protests here in the United States. Literally, there were protests in every continent, and in various countries. The biggest of them was in London, in the United Kingdom, where the numbers rivaled that of protests in the United States, as an estimated 100,000 people came to voice their displeasure against Trump. 

In Latin America, there were protests in Oaxaca and Mexico City, Mexico (no surprise there), as well as in South America, specifically in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in Lima, Peru. In neighboring Canada, there were anti-Trump protests in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.

There were numerous other protests spanning the entire globe, as well. There were protests in Australia, specifically in Sydney and in Melbourne. Protests were also seen in New Zealand, specifically in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Denedin, and Invercargill. In South Africa, there were protests in Sandton, Durban, and Cape Town, and there was also a protest in Nairobi, Kenya. In Asia, there were anti-Trump protests in the West Bank in Palestine, in Tbilisi, Georgia, in Kolkota and New Delhi, India, in Bangkok, Thailand, in Manila, Philippines, in Hong Kong, and in Tokyo, Japan. There were less specific reports of anti-Trump protests inside of China.

According to BBC News, the organizer of the Sydney March tried to give voice to the unity of anti-Trump protests around the world. This is what she said:

Women's March Sydney co-founder Mindy Freiband told the crowd: "Hatred, hate speech, bigotry, discrimination, prejudicial policies - these are not American problems, these are global problems."

As mentioned earlier, the biggest anti-Trump protest otside of American borders took place in London, although there were other protests in Britain, including in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in Cardiff, Wales, in Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, and in Edinburgh, Scotland.

There were many protests in Europe, including in Dublin, Ireland, Riga, Latvia, in Paris, France, in Lyon, France, in Brussels, Belgium, in Geneva, Switzerland, in Vienna, Austria, in Oslo, Norway, in Stockholm, Sweden, in Helsinki, Finland, in Copenhagen, Denmark, in Prague, Czech Republic, in Budapest, Hungary, in Barcelona, Spain, in Rome and Florence, Italy, in Athens, Greece, and in Berlin, Germany. 

There was even a protest in Paradise Bay, Antarctica!

Even some foreign heads of state had some hostile words towards the new American president. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt wrote on Twitter this message:

"Hostile inauguration speech. We can't sit around and hope for U.S. support and cooperation. Europea must take its destiny and security in its own hands."

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel was also critical, and suggested that Trump's very nationalist message was reminiscent of "the political rhetoric of the conservatives and reactionaries of the 1920's," according to Deutsche-Welle. 

Gabriel went on to warn that Trump "was very serious about it, and I think we should prepare ourselves."

To be fair, there were some pro-Trump rallies, as well. That included in the former Biafran nation in Nigeria, as well as in Sevnica, Slovenia, the country where Melania Trump is from, where they were serving up Melania cakes this weekend, in honor of the new First Lady. 

Domestically, the biggest anti-Trump protest was in Los Angeles, although there were some other truly huge ones in New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Miami, and Boston. There were other significant protests in Austin, St. Louis, Raleigh, Sioux Falls, Anchorage, Portland (Maine), and Park City, Utah. In the nation's capital, a planned march to the White House could not continue because there were so many protesters.

Some protesters were holding up signs with funny messages. My personal favorite was one that read "We Shall Overcomb."



Donald Trump protests attract millions across US and world by BBC News, 21 January 2017 :




Women's Marches Go Global: Postcards From Protests Around The World by   Colin Dwyer, DWYER, Maggie Penman, Mandalit del Barco,  Frank Langfitt, all of NPR News, January 21, 2017:



Protests Over Trump’s Inauguration Continue Worldwide One Day After Inauguration © REUTERS/ Jason Redmond US 06:11 22.01.2017:

https://sputniknews.com/us/201701221049870687-protests-trump-imauguration-worldwide/



Donald Trump Protests Spread Across the World, But Some Support Him by Rahul Kalvapalle of the Global News, January 21, 2017:



Thousands Converge for Women's March Nationwide by Daniel Uria, January 21, 2017:

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