On March 28, Moscow and Pullman’s ‘No Kings’ protests used Iran as cover for a far broader anti-Trump outburst, exposing the Left’s selective outrage.
This editorial ran in the Tuesday 7 April 2026 edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
On March 28, ‘No Kings’ protests in Moscow and Pullman exposed the Left’s Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Iran served as the pretext, but the protest itself was all over the map. The signs and chants were unfocused. Protesters railed against Trump, war, immigration enforcement, tariffs, Christian nationalism, Ukraine policy, and the cost of living, all at once.
That shows what these protests really were: not a principled anti-war movement, but a familiar anti-Trump coalition using Iran as pretext.
Americans should protest war. They should question presidents who bypass Congress and drag the country into another Middle East conflict. They should distrust a White House that acts first and asks questions later. On that point, the constitutional truth is simple: presidents can only act like kings if Congress lets them.
But the question is obvious. Where was this outrage when presidents from their own side were doing the bombing?
Where were the “No Kings” crowds when Barack Obama expanded drone warfare, dropped 496 bombs on Libya in 2016 alone, and oversaw the targeted killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, a strike that also killed U.S. citizen Samir Khan, followed two weeks later by a separate strike that killed 16-year-old U.S. citizen Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Where were they when Joe Biden ordered strikes onSyria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia? Where were they when Democratic leaders said Iran would never get a nuclear weapon and that all options remained on the table?
Suddenly, under Trump, the Constitution matters again. If not for double-standards, Democrats wouldn’t have standards at all.
If the Left wants to argue that presidents have grown too powerful in foreign policy, fine. If they want to say Congress surrendered its duty to decide war, correct. But if that standard only comes alive when the president is Donald Trump, it is not a constitutional principle. It’s a TDS gag reflex.
The same selectivity appears on domestic issues. Protesters complained about the cost of living and gas prices. Fair enough. Families feel that pressure. But where were these demonstrations when inflation hit 9.1% under Biden, instead of today’s 2.4%? Where were the rallies when gas hit $5.00 a gallon under Biden, not $3.99 today, while groceries surged and working families got squeezed month after month for four years?
The same amnesia applies to immigration. Bill Clinton signed a mass-deportation law in 1996. Two months later, 85% of Democrats reelected him. Barack Obama formally removed over 3 million illegal aliens from 2009 through 2016. Today, progressives denounce laws their own party once passed and enforced.
We already know the answer. Those burdens did not produce “No Kings” protests because their people were in power. Economic pain became protest fuel once it could be attached to Trump.
That selective outrage is the story.
Many protesters spoke as if the republic is suddenly on the brink because one president exceeded constitutional limits. Presidents have done that for decades. Congress has ducked its responsibility. The media has covered for its preferred side. Republicans do it. Democrats do it. Progressive activists only seem to notice executive overreach when the man in charge wears the wrong partisan jersey.
Remember how this works. When Republicans use force abroad, we hear that democracy is dying. When Democrats do it, we get lectures about nuance, realism, alliances, and humanitarian necessity. Republican military action gets framed as recklessness. Democratic military action gets wrapped in the soft language of expertise. Same missiles, different adjectives.
That is why so many Americans have stopped taking these moral performances seriously.
The mix of signs in Moscow and Pullman gave the game away. This was not a disciplined constitutional protest. It was an emotional outburst against a political enemy, with every issue piled onto the cart: Iran, gas prices, Ukraine, immigration, religion, tariffs, democracy. It was a catch-all TDS rally.
Protest is a right. Dissent is healthy. But serious people expect consistency. If acting without Congress is king-like, say so when Obama did it, Biden did it, and the next Democrat does it. If high prices justify outrage, why was it so muted when inflation hit 9.1% under Biden, the highest rate in over 40 years? If war is wrong, oppose it as principle, not party. “No Kings” is a fine slogan. But slogans are cheap. The real test is whether you apply them evenly.
If not, this is not a stand for constitutional government, peace, or the struggling middle class. It is partisan theater with patriotic branding.
No kings means no kings when your side holds power, too. No kings, no selective memory. No kings, no excuses.