France Has Its Very Own Anti-Trump Movement
Protests against Donald Trump’s election to President of the United States continue to spread. Trump has accentuated the divide between the Democratic and Republican parties, but he has also created deep fractures within the parties themselves. Meanwhile, young people, many of whom did not even vote, have vowed to continue to protest. They plan to stage a massive demonstration in Washington D.C. on January 20, the day Donald Trump will take the Oath of Office.
Given, the United States’ dominant position on the world scene, the ‘Trump protest’ phenomenon has spread across the Atlantic Ocean. It’s no surprise that it has found a receptive audience in France. French youth have held their meetings in bars, set up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, and launched their very own anti-Trump movement. Voilà, “Paris Against Trump.” Berlin and London also organized marches in conjunction with Paris, Washington, and New York on November 19.
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Many French youth were shocked. They got together with some Americans in Paris and promptly attracted a variety of small groups that did not know each other. The one thing they had in common was anger at the result of the American presidential election. As for the big question, why even protest Trump in France, organizers say that they want to remind the French that this election has consequences for the whole world—not just in the United States.
Several thousands are expected to join the rally in Paris. On January 20, the French anti-Trump movement plans to coordinate marches with their “colleagues” in the United States. The protests could also spread to the rest of France. The idea behind the protests is to not “leave Americans having to deal with him alone.”
There’s something unusual about the anti-Trump protests. They are happening long before the inauguration. Generally, protesters waited until the actual inauguration day to stage demonstrations. In 1973, there were protests in Washington as well as Los Angeles and…Paris. So, the anti-Trump movement in Paris has a historical precedent. (Source: “The Gathering Storm of Protest Against Trump,” The New Yorker, November 17, 2016.)
