NC rallies on Saturday will tap anger over Trump’s orders and Musk’s cuts, but is it enough to force change?

Editor's note: This opinion piece, written by News and Observer Opinion Editor, Ned Barnett, first appeared in the paper April 3, 2025)

A coalition of advocacy groups will stage rallies against the Trump administration’s actions on Saturday in the Triangle and across North Carolina and the nation. 

The turnout could be impressive. Organizers expect as many as 6,000 people to attend a 11 a.m rally in Raleigh. Other rallies will be held at a dozen other state locations, including Charlotte, Durham, Chapel Hill and Morrisville.

The rallies are being coordinated by a nonpartisan group known as 50501 – short for 50 protests, 50 states, one movement. This is the group’s largest effort after supporting rallies in March. In North Carolina, participating groups include Common Cause NC, the Union of Southern Service Workers, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign.

The question is can rallies make a difference?

After the limited and/or temporary gains realized by the Occupy movement and the Black Lives Matter marches and, in North Carolina, the Moral Monday Marches, can protests change or halt government policies?

Some think the gatherings will channel broad fears and anger over severe cuts in the federal workforce and funding led by President Trump and Elon Musk as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“I think it definitely can work,” said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. “This is the best means of lobbying, if you will, and demonstrating that there is opposition to policies that are being put forward.”

So far, the president and members of his administration have been unmoved by objections, and may even be encouraged by the outcry as evidence that they’re hitting the right targets.

“Democrats are delusional over DOGE and desperate attempts to vilify the men and women identifying waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government have gone too far,” said Matt Mercer, spokesman for the North Carolina Republican Party. “President Trump’s administration is following through on his promises to the American people, the radical Left is showing every day they’ve learned nothing from losing decisively in 2024.”

But Republicans may be too confident that the backlash to Trump’s frantic first months in office is only the groaning that comes from owning the libs.

Trump’s executive orders and Musk’s mass firings of federal employees are affecting, or will affect, a cross section of Americans, including many who voted for Trump. The anger that results could likewise have a much broader impact than protests fueled by mostly progressive interests. Tuesday’s closely watched election for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court may be an indicator. The seat was easily won by liberal candidate Susan Crawford despite Musk’s heavy spending and campaigning on behalf of her conservative opponent.

Phillips noted that people are upset not only by what is being done, but also by how it is being done. The abrupt, authoritarian style of cutting programs that serve public health, education, scientific research, veterans and older Americans has created an unnerving sense of chaos, he said.

“That’s not what people want in their lives regardless of their political stripe, age, race, gender, anything,” Phillips said. “There’s is a desire for certainty and some calmness, change as well, but not this kind of change. I think that’s what we’re seeing in these kinds of protests and demonstrations and certainly the one that we’ll see across the country on Saturday is a big example of that.”

David McLennan, a Meredith College political science professor who oversees the Meredith Poll, said he recently surveyed North Carolinians about Trump’s actions, but the results are not ready for release. He did say, however, that his impression is that “Trump’s approval, particularly on economic matters, is falling.”

McLennan said protests “typically have limited direct effects on politicians, but a large turnout on Saturday in North Carolina and nationally can increase public awareness about Trump’s policies and focus peoples’ attention on the problems resulting from government layoffs and downsizing, as well as the impacts of tariffs.”

If Trump is losing support for his handling of the economy, McLennan said, his falling approval rating could be accelerated by rallies raising awareness of other issues. “If his numbers fall far enough, this might cause him to shift course,” he said.