Listen To Story Above
The anticipated wave of pink-hatted protesters responding to the election results isn’t materializing this time around, as activism fatigue sets in among former resistance members.
According to The New York Times, the fierce opposition that characterized Trump’s first term has largely fizzled out after eight years of sustained protest efforts.
Great News!
Liberal women across the United States are launching a protest against President-elect Donald Trump’s recent landslide victory over Kamala Harris, expressing their dissent by refusing romantic or sexual relationships with men, shaving their heads, and urging each… pic.twitter.com/7AYyKEk0zH
— “Sudden And Unexpected” (@toobaffled) November 9, 2024
In a recent Times report titled “‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue,” reporter Katie Brenner noted: “In the days after Donald J. Trump’s electoral victory, thousands of people revived the grass-roots movement that opposed his first term in office.
“Marchers in Manhattan took over streets carrying a block-wide banner that read, ‘We Won’t Back Down.’ Activists in Los Angeles and Chicago decried Mr. Trump’s abortion and immigration policies and vowed to descend on Washington to protest his inauguration in January.
“But participants noted that Mr. Trump had not appeared to be swayed by protests, petitions, hashtag campaigns or other tools of mass dissent. Many have been calling for a fresh playbook.”
Activists are struggling to define new strategies, with prominent figures like Parkland survivor David Hogg expressing weariness with traditional protest methods.
“We’ve marched so much. We’re tired of doing the same thing over and over,” Hogg said. “After the election, I got several texts saying, ‘Screw it. People in power don’t know what they’re doing and I need to run.'”
“We need to be positioned to bring a new generation into office so we’re not just protesting and marching,” Hogg continued. “We can’t be outside looking in.”
Digital activism expert Leslie Mac highlights the limitations of online protest tactics. “I keep getting emails to sign petitions,” Mac said. “These people coming to the White House don’t care about petitions. They don’t care how many people sign them. They don’t care what they say.”
“Digital spaces are not your friend anymore,” she warned.
“Social media turned activism organizing into a kind of public relations job, where your follower count and where you were quoted mattered as much as the tangible work that was being done,” Mac explained. “I’m not saying that good things didn’t happen in online spaces. But sponsorships and brand deals started to intermingle with activism. It was celebrity.”
While some activists advocate for renewed local, in-person engagement, recent electoral outcomes suggest limited success for progressive grassroots efforts, particularly regarding cultural issues.
The exhaustion is evident among Democratic supporters. Cynthia Shaw, a 65-year-old Detroit suburb poll worker, expressed her disillusionment: “It feels so much more definitive this time,” adding that she lacked energy for another resistance movement.
“So many of us are so exhausted,” she lamented. “I don’t mean to be so bleak, but that’s how it feels today.”
Not everyone shares this fatigue. Liz Folkestad, 43, from Colorado, maintains her fighting spirit: “My anger drives a fire. I will engage. I’ll show up, I’ll march. There is solace in knowing that you’re not alone.”
🇺🇸 Meanwhile at Klode Park, America
A whole bunch of Liberal White Women congregate for ‘Primal Scream’ which allows them to express themselves together over Trumps Landslide Election Victory. pic.twitter.com/DsETSMCAR7
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) November 27, 2024
However, Folkestad’s earlier comment revealed a familiar pattern of liberal frustration: “There was definitely an hour when I Googled, ‘How to move me and two kids to Portugal.'”
The resistance movement’s apparent burnout suggests that sustained outrage has its limits, though many participants seem unwilling to acknowledge the lessons of the past eight years.
