Hundreds of thousands of Americans turned out Saturday for “Hands Off” protests held at more than 1,200 locations across the country, including in New Hampshire.
The national protests were planned by the 50501 organization and were supported by a wide range of left-leaning groups, including the ACLU, Climate Action, Planned Parenthood, and the SEIU, a union that represents around one million government workers. The rallies targeted the Trump administration’s sweeping policy changes, including spending cuts, federal job layoffs, immigration crackdowns, and the influence of Tesla-building billionaire Elon Musk as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In Washington, D.C, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) spoke to a crowd estimated at around 100,000. “Our founders wrote a Constitution that did not begin with ‘We the dictators.’”
In Boston, police estimated that around 30,000 protesters poured into Boston Common, where they heard the band the “Dropkick Murphys.”
In Portsmouth, some 2,000 or so protesters are estimated to have gathered along Pleasant Street, waving signs accusing Trump, Musk and the GOP of allegedly embracing fascism.
“Trump is following Hitler’s playbook,” one sign read. Another read: “Porsche = fast, Ferrari = faster, Tesla = fascist.”
Tariffs were another common topic protesters lashed out at, along with the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. “Hands off our immigrants,” one sign read. “No human is illegal,” read another.
And then there was the simple message “F*** ICE.”
Both U.S. Reps. Maggie Goodlander and Chris Pappas spoke to protesters outside the state house in Concord, with different results.
“We believe in the freedom to breathe clean air, to drink clean water, to love who we love, to be who we are,” Goodlander told the crowd. She then attacked the new tariff regime Trump announced, claiming its purpose is to “give tax breaks to billionaires.”
“Does anyone here think billionaires and big corporations need another tax break?” she asked.
Within hours, Goodlander’s campaign had produced a video of her comments and posted it on social media, an interesting move from someone who has made no secret of her interest in a run for U.S. Senate in 2026.
The announced U.S. Senate candidate, Rep. Pappas, was also on a video that went viral, but it wasn’t nearly as flattering. The video shows Pappas forced into silence while attempting to speak to the protesters when a person standing behind him unfurls a Palestinian flag, inspiring cries of “Free Palestine” from some in the crowd.
The moderator attempts to restore order, assuring the flag waver and his supporters that “We all support ‘Free Palestine’ here.”
A back-and-forth ensues between pro-Palestinian activists and the people running the event as the moderator pleaded for Pappas to be allowed to speak. At one point, she yelled at the protesters, “Give me a second — I didn’t do s*** to you!”
Republicans shrugged off the protests, claiming they are funded by deep-pocket progressives and that the crowds are made up of the same leftwing activists who regularly show up to wave signs.
When Democrats posted a photo of the sign-waving protesters gathered in Enfield (“You wanted cheap eggs but got measles instead!”), Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem) responded, “Oh no, we might not win Enfield in 2026, guys.”
Vice President Kamala Harris got more than 61 percent of the vote in Enfield last year.
