On South Washington Street in Alexandria, Virginia, the atmosphere of the recent No Kings protest felt less like a neutral civic gathering and more like a focused campaign rally. While national organizers insisted the movement remain strictly nonpartisan to comply with federal laws governing their nonprofit funding, many attendees on the ground had different ideas. Among them was Nayely Cruz Hernandez, an environmental engineer who made no secret of her goals. Holding her poodle and cheering alongside supporters, Hernandez explicitly urged passersby to vote blue and reclaim power from Republicans in both the House and Senate.

The disconnect between the leadership’s directives and the reality on the pavement was evident throughout the day. Official guidelines provided by Indivisible and other organizing bodies prohibited candidate endorsements and partisan slogans, yet those rules were largely ignored by the foot soldiers of the movement. From balloons depicting Donald Trump as a baby to signs calling for a big beautiful blue wave, the imagery was pointedly political. Some protesters even displayed messages echoing controversial threats against the president, further distancing the events from the image of a broad, nonpartisan coalition.

When questioned about these contradictions, some participants admitted that pretending to be nonpartisan was merely a formality. Nadine Seiler, a veteran activist marching near the White House, dismissed the notion that such a movement could ever truly avoid party lines when its primary goal is resisting a specific administration. According to Seiler, since anyone supporting Trump would naturally be absent from such a rally, describing it as anything other than partisan was disingenuous. She argued plainly that the demonstrations were as partisan as it gets.

Despite these admissions from within their own ranks, spokespeople for No Kings continue to maintain that they are leading a peaceful effort to protect democracy rather than act as an arm of any political party. They suggested that partisan elements seen online or in crowds might simply be unaffiliated individuals using their name as a rallying cry. However, internal communications from leadership have occasionally slipped into overtly political territory, creating a tension between the legal necessity of remaining neutral and the passionate desires of their base to ensure Democratic victories across the country.