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this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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"But why don't Americans protest? All they do is sit back and take it up the ass!" I hear every European crying as they ignore this right alongside all the other protests.
If this were a fr*nch protest they'd already have burned down the hotel ICE stays at and set off a couple bombs. Stop pretending these are comparable.
The problem is that protests are to promote awareness. That does nothing, Trump thrives on bad PR as long as it can serve as misdirection for the latest tragedy. The general strike did start to do something. The biggest problem is that the Supreme Court is fully corrupt, the Executive Branch and all federal agencies are now fully corrupt, and congress is the weakest branch of government that works slow and will get hampered by the Supreme Court even if you manage to have fair elections for midterms.
Gavin Newsom is about the only state leader that is doing something effective, and Tim Walz should have been there with him during the World Economic Forum. The fact is, your federal government is corrupt down right to the core and it got this bad when things were way better. The people controlling the media, controlling the social networks that influence people, now have more say and wealth to hinder and twist the barebones democratic elements that the US had, to put dissenters like you into ineffective bubbles while they radicalize, enable, and pardon the vitriol that serves them.
The problem is that keeping you country together prevented slavery, but never defeated the confederates turned "MAGA" neoconfederates that run your federal government today, and a country that was founded and dissolved several times until it became the United States has now been indoctrinated that there are no circumstances where seeking independence is valid, even when the federal government that rules the states isn't following its own constitution. You cannot have a democracy without a shared reality, and you cannot have a shared reality where for some the constitution is a legal foundation for the country and for others it is simply just another bible from which to read excerpts off while ignoring the rest of it.
Europe shouldn't tell you what to do, but why would we ever deal the same way we have before with a country that proven itself to be psychotically bipolar? Do you realize that our governments cannot orbit around yours because we have our own politicians to deal with? That's not the case with a number of states in the US, yet they are forced to now submit to a dictatorship even though they are the economic motors for the country that other states' politicians basically live off of. Anyway, you guys do you, the US as it is now has lost a lot of standing in the world - except with dictatorships, where standing is basically just optics anyway. I understand people are doing what they can, it would (and likely will) be difficult to do the same thing here, there's too much money going into manipulating governments and corruption could not have denied oversight at a worse time.
The core problem is one where billionaires have gone Cambridge Analytica and have destroyed and attacked our share reality - the reason why they are also ardent AI proponents, and they are operating everywhere. Honestly, I don't have a solution, just observations. But understand that from our point of view, was it better to deal with the USSR, or was it better to deal with each of its members like Ukraine and Russia individually?
TBF, news outlets have been utterly ignoring þe country-wide protests which have been consistently happening practically since Trump took office. Almost none of þe enormous 50502 protests have been covered. If we're not seeing it on American media, even fewer international people are going to see it.
Sorry if we'd like some firmer response to your country attacking our economy and threatening invasion
I get it. But also we are occupied by ice right now. We are spending a majority of our time resisting at the community level. Helping our neighbors from being abducted, monitoring ice, protesting.
Apologies that it's not meeting your standards.
I mean, on the flipside Americans (edit: and russian trolls especially)constantly mock European politicians with the "they're gonna send a strongly worded letter" which is the single most retarded thing I have heard and keep hearing from that camp. Personally, I have respect for the Americans who go protest, while I have a lot less respect for the politicians in America who do have the power to push back against trump, yet all they seem to do is nothing while blaming Europe for trump acting like a toddler. Meanwhile we here in Europe do what every adult with self respect does to a screaming child at the store - we tell them no. Calmly and without escalation. If we start behaving like trump, there is no adults left to help calm things down. In america, however, it seems that every politician is either enabling trump or acting like him: attacking the wrong people because it is easier to slap around your friends than standing up to your true enemy. Gavin Newsom. I see you, bitch.
But yeah, I have respect for the common folk who are protesting in america. I have had respect for the tons of protests they have done since january of last year. It is historical but it kinda drowns in the piles of shit trump poops out daily to keep all of us disoriented and angry at all kinds of different things.
He is destroying America from the inside and he's destroying America's relationship with their allies from the outside. I genuinely feel so fucking bad for you guys, because you and your children and your childrens children will be the ones to pay the ultimate price of trumps second presidency. Whatever allies you'll have left when his time is over will be significantly less than what they used to be and meanwhile your country will be in massive economic trouble which will only get worse once the effect of de-americanization in Europe starts to be felt in your country.
It comforts me to know people in entirely different countries also think Gavin Newsom is a little bitch.
Thanks, from California (* not a Republican)
I have heard Americans talk about him in very negative terms before, but never really new the details as I usually try to stay as far away from news and politics as possible.
However, with his recent Trumpish tactic of calling Europe pathetic and the laughing stock of the world and accusing us of giving Trump the Nobel Peace Prize (I didn't know Venezuela was a European country, nor that Machado was part of the Nobel Peace Prize committee), it really cemented to me that he was that kind of cunt and not just unpopular among some voters for his politics.
I could 100% agree with all of his politics and still think he's a cunt for using those kinds of tactics instead of being a fucking adult and treating his voters, his state and his position as politician and governor like a joke. I will never respect him, he will always be a joke to me and the Democrats will be a joke if they elect him to represent him during the next presidential election. I'm a much bigger fan of AOC. Everytime she opens her mouth, as far as I'm aware, she's been spitting facts. America needs someone with the dignity, intelligence and warmth she has displayed towards the American people. That's what I think, but take it with a grain of salt as I genuinely try to stay out of politics as much as possible and am ignorant to most things.
Gavin Newsom vetoed legal psychedelics (in other words he wants people in prison for possessing plants and doing what they want with their own bodies / minds), vetoed unemployment pay for striking workers, repeatedly disregarded COVID mandates that he himself put into place, and took photo ops throwing away the only worldly possessions of homeless people.
Basically what's happened to the Democratic Party in the United States is that their base has moved left, for example, increasingly having a favorable view of socialism, increasingly supporting universal healthcare, and holding an increasingly unfavorable (to put it mildly) view of Israel. But the oligarch donors (by way of Citizens United, and the more recent Supreme Court decision which basically legalized bribery) who define the DNC's allowed rhetoric and actions won't allow Democrats to move left, because that would be contrary to capitalism, which is of course the top priority for the oligarchs in question. So, aware of their rapidly diminishing base, the Democrats are instead moving in the only permitted direction where they see any potential to pick up voters: more to the right. This is why Kamala Harris promised "the most lethal military in the world", campaigned with Liz Cheney (daughter or maybe granddaughter of Dick Cheney, war criminal architect of the illegitimate Iraq War), and talked about being tough on crime and immigration. Gavin Newsom is doing the same thing.
The thing is - in my opinion, and I think as evidenced by the 2024 election - rightwing people will just vote for the real deal, and leftwing people won't vote for you at all. So Democrats, barred by their owners from serving as an actual opposition party, are guaranteeing their own irrelevancy and the dominance of Republicans in the short-term. Unless people are so fed up with Republicans they just vote for Democrats despite not actually really liking any of their policies, which is a possibility... but then people will just vote a Republican in again after Democrats inevitably live up to Biden's famous promise, "Nothing will fundamentally change."
Thank you for your comment. It helps with context and gives me some perspective. It seems generally in line with the perception many of us outsiders have about the US generally and the direction it has been going in for a long time now.
And I also appreciate you sharing some of the reasons Americans don't like Newsom. I feel like I understand their perspective a bit better now.
I'm confused by this. The only people I've read complaining about the "strongly worded letter" tendencies have been criticising the us democratic party for its dereliction of duty and utterly feckless disregard of their constitutional oaths in the face of this fascist xenocidal administration. Where are you seeing the imprecations against Europe?
EDIT: You know what, I just read the rest of the thread OP's comments, and I rescind my point. They spew enough anti-european angst to fill a couple of comment sections.
To answer your prior question: all over the internet. They are especially prevalent on youtube. I usually chalk them up to being Russian trolls, but I have also seen examples of real Americans holding these opinions towards Europe. Some of them were youtubers I was subscribed to for years, who became radicalized trump lovers and while I generally do not unsub from creators whose political opinions I disagree with, I just had enough of the aggressive anti-European rhetoric, that 9 time out of 10 was based upon lies or ignorance. I have even heard shit like "Europe has no freedom of speech" and then they use Britain's strict speech laws to paint all of Europe with that same brush. Be like me saying that all of America is anti abortion and that no place allows for women to have an abortion just because some states have either outlawed it or narrowed the rules around legal abortion.
The narrative that Europe is weak and "sends strongly worded letters" has more or less been used for mockery and killing our spirit since Putin sent missiles toward Kiyv in 2022.
Europe is not an innocent Saint who cannot be criticized and we definitely have been way too trusting and naive, but we are not stupid and we are not weak. The only people who repeat this sentiment over and over and over are our enemies who want to destabilize, divide and destroy us so that Putin and Trump can fight over who gets what piece of Europe in the end.
That is very clear to me and I fucking refuse to fall for that shit.
Ps, no hard feelings about you asking btw. It is valid to ask when you are in doubt of something. I do that all the time.
To be fair, I think it's a really low number of Europeans doing this. A very loud, but low, minority of idiots.
We know all about minorities of idiots here in the US, so we should see this for what it is.
If you think protests are enough to fix this you're dreaming.
They literally didn't say that. Stop making things up to get mad at.
Not my country. Im just stating a fact.
It's a non sequitur response and rude for no reason. That's the only fact I see here.
Direct quote. How is me saying protests wont work a non-sequitor exactly. Please do explain.
No, this is great, as an European I'm proud of the Minnesotans that protested. I hope that more will follow.
You seem to be hating on Europeans. I would practice some self enquiry.
Being this soft to literal fascism and fascists is not a good look. They are literally kidnapping children. Killing people. Blinding people. They are waging wars. Calling them literal nazis is appropriate. They are removing your healthcare or making it prohibitively expensive. They are stealing from you. Not only your health but also your money. Pump and dump schemes, etc. Last, but definitely not least, they are protecting each other. Each one of them is evil beyond comprehension and they are all playing together, protecting eachother. Your president is a pedophile. He is not only part but also probably one of the main people, of a ring of pedophiles.
Your hate towards Europeans is misplaced. All we want is justice and a good society.
Because just standing outside is not how a protest achieves anything. True protests must be disruptive and last. The Yellow jackets burned down the avenue des champs Elysées every Saturday for multiple months. The protests following Nahel's murder (very similar to that of Renee good in some aspects) burned down multiple police stations.
Standing protests like this a regular occurrence in France, but those are not the ones you hear about. Their only role is so build momentum and make people feel united.
Real change happens only through either much stronger protests or through actions like the whistles and following ice around making them feel unwelcome 24/7.
Yeah well the media is not exactly sponsoring the resistance. We just want to make sure that memes are not the only thing you're doing.
This is really nice to see, keep it up.
I love how it's a bajillion degrees below zero and they are all outside protesting, flipping shit. Yeah, Americans don't do anything. Fuck y'all that say it.
What pressure has this put on Trump's administration to stop? This wasn't a strike because no demands were made for a return to work. Everybody is back to work today. ICE will be back at it again today too.
The protesters were herded into an arena to listen to some campaigning. Then everyone went home.
When's the next demonstration? In four months?