Earlier this month, thousands of demonstrators gathered at the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh to protest President Donald Trump. The protest was part of a larger event “50 states 50 protests 1 day” (50501) to oppose the president’s actions taken in the first month of his second term including a slew of executive orders that have caused chaos and confusion for the people of this country and the federal agencies that support them.
Trump’s actions during his first month in office impacted areas like immigration, environmental issues, and LGBTQIA+ rights. Protestors held American and Mexican flags as well as signs calling for protections for LGBTQIA+ and immigrant communities.
Protestors also spoke out against Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump put in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Chants of “Elon Musk has got to go,” and “One, two, three, four, Elon Musk is out the door,” filled the streets as protestors condemned the Tesla Founder. Musk has come under fire for his relationship with the President during his presidential campaign and in his current administration. During Trump’s presidential campaign, Musk donated a whopping quarter of a billion dollars to help the Republican candidate. Now in his position at DOGE, he is overstepping in his position and working to expand his power in the administration while dodging criticism.
One protestor, John Hejka, a business consultant from Charlotte, traveled to Raleigh with his grandson and touted signs against Musk as well as Trump’s controversial cabinet picks. “I rallied against the Vietnam War, I rallied for civil rights, and I’m teaching my grandson that you can speak out,” Hejka said.
Another sign reads “If your voice held no power they wouldn’t try to silence you”. North Carolinians looking to have their voice heard have also looked to congressional members. Senators Thom Tillis and Tedd Budd have been receiving an influx of calls at their offices since Trump took office. In fact, their offices have received so many calls they say it has crashed the Senate Voicemail System. According to the Senate Sergeant at Arms, the Senate will receive somewhere from 25 to 40 calls per minute on a normal day. Currently, due to the actions of President Trump and the congressional members who support him, they are receiving around 1,500 calls per minute.
In addition to calling their congressional members office, demonstrations have been held outside the offices of Tillis and Budd, with protestors displaying their opposition to Trump’s policies and his picks for federal leadership.
One of the protests aimed at Senator Tillis, led by Indivisible Charlotte, had demonstrators lining the street of Tillis’ office in Washington to express their concern for Tillis aligning himself with the Trump administration and confirming many of Trump’s under qualified and extreme cabinet picks. This includes Elon Musk.
Carolyn Eberly, an organizer at the rally, argued that even though Trump won North Carolina in the election, the voters chose Trump and not the bad actors who he surrounds himself with. “There are people that voted for Trump but they did not vote for Elon Musk, they did not vote for their information to be public now,” Eberly said.
Through phone calls and protests, Tillis has received multiple pleas from advocates about Trump’s cabinet picks, including a letter from 400 doctors urging him not to confirm RFK Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Regardless of the pleas and warnings, Tillis has confirmed every Trump nominee put in front of him. This includes Pete Hegseth, Trump’s controversial pick for Secretary of Defense, where Tillis was a pivotal vote that could have blocked Hegseth’s confirmation.
