Politics and Protest: Hitting the Streets in the Trump Era

Politics and Protest: Hitting the Streets in the Trump Era

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Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, millions of Americans have taken to the streets. Many have marched in protest of the president, some have walked out of their jobs demanding higher wages, and others have attended rallies in support of the president. This hour, Amy Walter takes a look at the impact of these movements and whether or not the energy they’ve produced will transfer to the polls in November.

David S. Meyer is the Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine and the author of Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America and The Resistance: The Dawn of the Anti-Trump Opposition Movement. He begins the hour with a look at the role of protest in American history and politics.

Moriah Balingit is the National Education Reporter for the Washington Post. She spoke to Amy Walter about why the teacher strikes began and how they are affecting the midterms.

Emily Wendler, an Education Reporter for KOSU, says that educators in Oklahoma are part of a new wave that are shaking up politics in the state this fall.  

Katie Rogers is a White House correspondent for The New York Times. She estimates she’s been to about 15 to 20 Trump rallies in the past year. Amy Walter spoke with her about how the rallies have become a political statement for many Trump supporters.

Matt Deitsch is a Co-Founder and the Chief Strategist for March For Our Lives. And Ramon Contreras is the National Field Strategist for March For Our Lives and Co-Founder of Youth Over Guns. These are two incredibly enthusiastic young men, and they believe we’re in the midst of a major cultural shift.

Special thanks to Corin Cates Carney and Nicky Ouellet from Montana Public Radio for gathering audio from Thursday night’s Make America Great Again rally at Minutemen Aviation in Missoula, Montana.

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