Donald Trump’s first inauguration was marked by riots in the streets of Washington and spurred global counterprotests that included millions, including what was estimated to be the largest single-day of protest in U.S. history. The turnout set the stage for four years of vociferous demonstrations against a president whose victory was seen as a fluke.
This year, ahead of Trump’s second inauguration, which falls on Monday’s Martin Luther King Day holiday, thousands are expected to turn out at demonstrations to honor King and protest Trump. But their numbers are expected to be far smaller than they were eight years ago as the burning intensity of the anti-Trump “Resistance” movement cooled to a smolder in the wake of his second victory — the first time Trump has won the popular vote.
The result is an emboldened Trump and weakened grassroots opposition, with some questioning whether all the protesting, donating, door-knocking and letter-writing they did during his first term amounted to much of anything.
Anti-Trump marches will be smaller, celebrities more likely to stay on the sidelines, and corporations, which at times found themselves in an uneasy alliance with left-leaning protesters, donating to Trump’s inaugural committee and sending their CEOs to attend.
“This is not going to be a time of resistance like it was in 2017,” said Donna Brazile, the veteran Democratic activist and former Democratic National Committee chair.
Democrats say there will be a quieter anti-Trump resistance compared to his first term.
Trump’s favorability rating is at an all-time high, reaching net positivity — meaning more people approve of him than disapprove of him — for the first time since pollsters began tracking him. Even Democratic polls show pluralities of Americans expecting the economy and immigration to improve on his watch.
While around 60 Democratic lawmakers boycotted Trump’s first inauguration, fewer are planning to be absent this year. Some of those who plan to skip say it’s for unrelated reasons. For instance, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who attended Trump’s first inauguration, will not be at the second and is recovering from recent surgery.
Some who plan to be elsewhere for the inauguration are not calling it a boycott. Even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., one of the most outspoken progressives on Capitol Hill, chalked up her planned absence to a “general conflict of logistics” rather than an intention to snub Trump.
California Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman, who boycotted Trump’s first inauguration, plans to attend Monday, telling Politico, “It’s different now. … Whether we like it or not, this guy was just elected by the country with full disclosure of all of his ugliness.”
Recently elected Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who as a member of the House in 2017 boycotted Trump’s first inauguration, said he’s going this time.
“The electorate sent a very clear message in this last cycle that they want an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to work together,” he told Phoenix-based NBC affiliate KPNX-TV. “And so I’m going to come to this office with an approach of trying to do my best in the best interests of all Arizonans, and part of that is to participate in this ceremony.”
A march on Washington is taking place Saturday. And authorities are bracing for potential disruption in the nation’s capital on Monday. But all signs point to a smaller reaction to Trump’s swearing-in than eight years ago, when some demonstrators burned cars and smashed shop windows, while notable liberals gathered across the city for counterprogramming events.
As of Friday afternoon, fewer than 50,000 people had RSVP’d to participate in the People’s March, the Saturday rally planned by some of the same groups that organized the 2017 Women’s March. That turnout would be far smaller than eight years ago, when as many as 500,000 people were estimated to have flooded downtown Washington.
A planned satellite protest in West Palm Beach, Florida, home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, had fewer than 300 RSVPs Friday afternoon. Another in New York City had about 1,500 RSVPs.
Separately, the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader and MSNBC host, is planning a rally to honor King at a historic Black church in Washington several blocks north of the White House.
Meanwhile, speaking from her animal sanctuary near Joshua Tree, California, Women’s March co-founder Vanessa Wruble told the BBC she’s not attending the anti-inaugural march this year.
“I didn’t even know it was still a thing,” she told the news outlet.
At the same time, the celebrities whose megaphones helped amplify the anti-Trump movement around his 2017 inauguration have quieted.
Trump struggled to attract top-name talent to perform at his first inauguration, with a long list of artists reportedly refusing to participate. By contrast, Carrie Underwood is set to perform this time, facing some backlash online — but also earning some unlikely defenders like Whoopi Goldberg.
The Golden Globes ceremony that preceded Trump’s first inauguration was marked by impassioned anti-Trump speeches from stars like Meryl Streep, Hugh Laurie and Viola Davis. But at this month’s ceremony, the presenters were more muted, making only vague allusions to “difficult moments” for the country.
A long list of celebrities participated in the 2017 Women’s Marches, including Scarlett Johansson, Alec Baldwin, Cher, Emma Watson, Julia Roberts, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Alicia Keys and many more.
The speakers’ list at Saturday’s march is lower-wattage, composed mainly of activists, though some celebrities may still attend the event.
“Entertainment and culture is going to feel a lot less squeamish” about Trump, comedian Josh Gondelman wrote on X. “There’s going to be less resistance-based entertainment and more pandering to who they imagine Trump voters are.”
Trump’s inauguration will be closely followed by a conservative event, the annual anti-abortion March for Life, which organizers expect will draw some 150,000 next weekend — three times the estimated turnout for this Saturday’s anti-Trump march.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com