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Hundreds of Granite State progressives gathered at the State House in Concord on Saturday to express their anger at President Donald Trump, DOGE advisor Elon Musk, and a myriad of policy positions from abortion restrictions to the patriarchy in general — with a shoutout to Black Lives Matter along the way.

The event was promoted as part of International Women’s Day, and New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley boosted it online. “Defend our democracy! Stand up for human rights!” the poster read.

Protester Erin Marlow showed up to support women and oppose Trump.

The Women’s Day protest in Concord, N.H. on March 8, 2025.

“The most important thing to me is protecting our democracy and making sure (Trump) doesn’t take over and try to become authoritarian,” Marlow said. “I think they already are acting in an authoritarian manner and that to me is the most important thing to resist.”

Resistance took many forms on Saturday, whether it was an elderly woman beating a drum decorated with a peace sign, the Bon Jovi sing-along, or the pink “pussy hats” sported by a few protestors.

The protest is part of the 50501 Movement slate of national protests targeting the Trump administration. 50501 bills itself as a grassroots organization and is aligned with The Political Revolution PAC, a small off-shoot organization that came out of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign.

Protest organizers took up position in front of the State House with a PA system and a table to sign up new volunteers. While organizers brought signs for the crowd, many brought their own. Messages ran the gamut with “This Is Not Normal,” “Hex The Patriarchy,” “Stop The Coup,” “Resist Fascism,” “Abortion Is Healthcare,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Stop The Bro-ligarchy,” and “Fire The Liar,” among others.

There were even a few messages with religious themes: “For Lent, let’s give up fascism.”

Notably missing from the event were any prominent elected New Hampshire Democrats.

The boisterous crowd cheered when passing drivers honked their car horns in approval, danced along to music, and came up with multiple variations of the ubiquitous protest chant “Hey hey/ho ho.” Sometimes Donald Trump had to go, other times, it was Musk.

Marlow hopes Saturday’s protest, and others like it across the country, can help build a movement that can win at the ballot box. 

“This shows the rest of the country that people are not happy with the way that it’s going, and it shows the rest of the world that Americans are not happy with the way things are going. It gives people the confidence to keep going, keep resisting, and be really active in the next election,” Marlow said.

A major focus of the protests was opposition to laws limiting women’s sports and spaces to biological females. That inspired a small group of supporters of girls-only sports to show up as well.

“We have a small group but we have a dedicated group,” said Bronwyn Sims.

Sims said she and her compatriots hoped to engage with the other protestors and educate them about their support for biological women.

“Some people seem to be confused about our position on this. We are not against transgender rights, we are not against anyone who chooses to be transgender,” Sims said. “We also believe that women and girls have rights, and we do have the right to our own spaces and our own sports, our own bathrooms and our own prisons. It really doesn’t have to do with being against anybody.”

First-term Democrat U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander (NH-02) told a town hall in Keene Friday that while she is determined to fight the spending cuts proposed by President Trump and his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), she isn’t prepared to commit to a government shutdown to show her opposition.

The DOGE effort led by billionaire Elon Musk was a hot topic among the hundreds of Granite Staters who turned out to see Goodlander at the Keene Public Library.

“We have to create leverage wherever we can and we’ve got to fight back with everything we’ve got,” Goodlander said.

But Goodlander dodged when one resident asked if she’d support shutting down the government to gain that leverage. The government is set to run out of funding on March 14 unless Congress can agree to a new spending plan. Without that agreement, the government will shutter.

“Do Democrats have the chutzpah to do that,” one resident asked.

Goodlander was noncommittal. Goodlander repeated her line that Democrats need to use “every tool we got,” but pointedly refused to say she would support a shutdown. Instead, she seemed disinclined to disrupt the lives of federal workers.

 “I want to protect federal workers and the federal workforce,” Goodlander said.

Until recently, one member of that federal workforce was her husband, Jake Sullivan. He served as National Security Advisor to former President Joe Biden, where he played a key role in the policies that led to the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and U.S. policy toward Russia.

Goodlander’s measured response did not appear to match the mood of the audience. Constituent after constituent expressed their concern about possible budgets cuts — including to programs Trump has pledged not to cut, like Social Security and Medicare — and urged Democrats like Goodlander to take action. There were even people defending foreign aid spending, which is unpopular with the electorate at large.

Goodlander’s example of getting and using leverage for her agenda was a story she told about swapping her office space with a Republican lawmaker. But first, she got him to agree to co-sponsor at least three bipartisan bills with her. 

The constituents in Keene looked for leadership during these uncertain times, but Goodlander kept offering solutions from a politician working under normal circumstances. 

“What can we do, the people that are in this room, because I don’t think we can wait two years,” resident Sandy Marchand asked.

Goodlander’s suggestion is to sign up to get emails from her office. 

When asked about reports that ICE may use the federal prison in Berlin as a detention center for immigrants in the country illegally, Goodlander said she is concerned and would be monitoring the situation. 

Goodlander even tried to reassure the crowd about the separation of powers under the Constitution, saying that both the legislative and the judiciary branches have as much power as the executive. 

“We don’t have the courts!” one man shouted in response.

The crowd, which was clearly primed for some partisan red meat, finally got what they wanted when Goodlander launched an attack on Elon Musk.

“We have an unelected billionaire using a social media platform he owns to direct the federal government,” Goodlander said to cheers. “This is not right. This is not anything we signed up for.”

But later in the conversation, Goodlander said she would not support using congressional hearings to grill Musk about his quasi-role in government.

“Public hearings can be more performance than substance,” Goodlander said.

Instead, Goodlander wants to talk about Musk’s obvious conflicts of interest without the need for hearings. 

“We will be shining a spotlight on his conflicts of interest,” Goodlander said. 

Goodlander is serving her first term after having worked in the Biden administration. At 38, she’s one of the younger members of Congress, though her politics seem more in line with older Democrats. But her voters may be losing patience with Biden-Pelosi Democrats.

“Donating money to Democrats does not seem like a good way to fight back anymore,” Maggie Duggan said.