‘No Kings on Presidents Day’: Anti-Trump protestors rally at Kentucky Capitol

by Jamie Lucke, Kentucky Lantern
February 17, 2025

FRANKFORT — Bundled up against sub-freezing cold and hoisting homemade signs, more than 200 people gathered in front of the Kentucky Capitol Monday for the second anti-Trump rally in as many weeks.

The event was part of “No Kings on Presidents Day” protests around the country organized by the 50501 Movement which first held anti-Trump protests in all 50 states on Feb. 5. 

Victor Fain of Elizabethtown, who also attended the Feb. 5 rally in Frankfort, said the Monday gathering appeared to have attracted more people. Explaining why he was there, Fain said, “I feel like this administration is uniquely dangerous. Trump has radicalized me.”

Since taking office Jan. 20, Republican President Donald Trump has moved swiftly through executive orders and federal workforce reductions to remake the government. The president empowered billionaire Elon Musk to cut personnel and costs and make other changes in federal agencies via the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump’s actions are being challenged in multiple lawsuits, including one joined by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear challenging Trump’s freeze on federal payments, which Beshear said is affecting Medicaid, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Abandoned Mine Lands program in Kentucky. “We deserve to be able to rely on the agreements that a federal government has made, regardless of what party is in power,” Beshear said last week in announcing he had joined the suit filed by Democratic state attorneys general.

Sherman Fracher of Harrodsburg, who hoisted a sign that said “No Kings,” told the Lantern, “We  have to do something. We can’t just sit by and watch it crumble. They have to know we’re not just going to lie down and let them take the government.”

Between chants of “We will not let freedom die” and “This is what America looks like,” the crowd was urged by speakers to contact their representatives in Congress to register their opposition to the Trump agenda.

The Kentucky legislature was not in session Monday.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

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