Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) isn’t letting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) lie about Americans fighting against the spread of authoritarianism and greed.As thousands plan to take a stand during another round of “No Kings” protests scheduled across the nation on Saturday, Oct. 18, Republicans have been trying to smear the protests as radical and dangerous. Record numbers of people gathered for the first iteration of the peaceful, anti-Trump demonstrations around the world in June.Johnson is one of the many members of the GOP who have called the events a “hate America rally,” baselessly claiming it was a gathering for “the Antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists” during a Friday press conference.Sanders called out the head of the House in a social media video posted on Friday, in which he said the protests were a chance for patriotic Americans to stand up for their country.No, Speaker Johnson:The No Kings Rally on October 18 is not a “hate America” rally.Quite the contrary.It’s a rally of millions of people who believe in American freedom and are not going to allow you and President Trump to turn us into an authoritarian country. pic.twitter.com/g3Mh8PxMKT— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 10, 2025“No, Speaker Johnson, the No Kings Rally on October 18th is not a ‘hate America’ rally,” the senator said. “In fact, it’s quite the contrary: it’s a love America rally.”He continued, “It’s a rally of millions of people all over this country who believe in our Constitution, who believe in American freedom, and are not going to let you and Donald Trump turn this country into an authoritarian society.”Mike Johnson: "This hate America rally that they have coming up for October 18? The antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists, they're all gonna gather on the Mall. It is an outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes ... all this has gotta come to an end." pic.twitter.com/9du1GED0z2— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2025Taking Johnson and his fellow Republicans to task, Sanders said, “It’s a group of people who are disgusted that you and your friends want to double health care premiums in this country, and take health care away from 15 million Americans. The right to protest is what America is about. You are not going to stop us.”Organizers of the “No Kings” protest also slammed Johnson in a Friday statement, accusing him of trying to distract from the crises caused by the ongoing government shutdown.“Speaker Johnson is running out of excuses for keeping the government shut down,” they said. “Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings.”Close