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At last weekend’s “No Kings” protest in Washington, D.C., inflatable chickens bobbed above a crowd that, according to demographic research, was made up mostly of educated White women in their 40s.
Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert said that the “No Kings” protests are a snapshot of an era when emotional catharsis and civic activism have begun to blur.
“What we’re seeing is a kind of group therapy playing out in the streets,” he told Fox News Digital.
Louise Stark, left, and Ken Hughes wear inflatable axolotl (Mexican salamander) costumes as they join thousands of other people for the second “No Kings” protest. (Clifford Oto / The Stockton Record / USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)
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The protest, which drew thousands to the nation’s capital and similar rallies across the country, was aimed at denouncing what participants described as President Donald Trump’s “kingship” and blatant authoritarianism.
According to researchers at American University who track protest movements, and whose findings were first reported by Axios, the typical D.C. attendee was an educated White woman in her 40s who learned about the demonstration through friends or social media.
“The ‘No Kings’ movement allows people to feel belonging and community,” Alpert said. “Sharing grievances with like-minded people feels good, but it doesn’t necessarily change anything.”
Dr. Jeanine Standard of Canton sports an inflatable chicken suit as she joins hundreds of other protesters for a “No Kings” rally Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 along War Memorial Drive near Peoria Stadium. (Matt Dayhoff / Journal Star / USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)
Alpert, who’s the author of his forthcoming book “Therapy Nation,” said that “therapy speak” is everywhere in our culture.
“Therapy speak is everywhere — in dating apps, on the news, even in political rallies,” he said. “People start labeling others as narcissists or traumatized when those aren’t clinical diagnoses.”
Demonstrators in inflatable costumes rally on Pennsylvania Avenue during a No Kings protest in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Alpert sees that hunger for connection as central to the “No Kings” phenomenon.
“People are craving community, and this gives them a place to channel that. They’re surrounded by others who validate how they feel, and that validation can be addictive,” he said. “Some protesters are equating the ‘No Kings’ movement with the Civil Rights movement. In their minds, there’s an equivalency, but there really isn’t. They want to be part of something historically meaningful — and that longing can distort perspective.”
That fleeting catharsis, Alpert added, can also mask something darker.
“A lot of times people are unhappy in their own lives,” he said. “They may have anxiety or anger, and they project that onto others. That’s partly what we’re seeing play out at these rallies.”
Kim Armstrong wears an inflatable elephant costume at Government Plaza in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as she takes part in the No Kings protest, a nationwide protest against the presidency of Donald Trump. (Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)
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Why are people wearing inflatable costumes to protests?
During “No Kings” protests across the nation last Saturday, individuals sporting inflatable T. rex, elephants and other brightly colored costumes flooded the streets. Supporters say the inflatable costumes draw attention without violence. The tactic started in Portland, Oregon, during protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
“They want us to be violent,” protester Claudia Schultz, wearing an inflatable pig costume, told the Miami Herald. “You can’t get any less violent than this.”