Saturday, October 17, 2026Sat, Oct 17
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U.S.THE BBN INTERVIEW

Voting-Focused 'No Kings' Day Draws Subdued Crowds

Organizers told attendees at Saturday's nonpartisan events to leave partisan signs at home, and one Utah march ended at a library ballot box; many prominent Democrats stayed away.

On air: Vera Bullock on BBN Tonight
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▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Vera Bullock on this story, from BBN Tonight at 10:47 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are The New York Times's, the jokes are ours.

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What BBN said about it

  1. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTobias Wrenfield is an intention coach, joining us from a retreat he won't name. Saturday's No Kings gatherings were more subdued than past ones. Why?

  2. Tobias WrenfieldIt's a manifestation issue. The crowds manifested calm, and calm is what arrived. I have coached, oh, eight hundred crowds through this.

  3. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorOrganizers told people not to carry partisan signs, because the events were going to voting places. Did that cost them energy?

  4. Tobias WrenfieldYes. Take away the signs and the crowd has nothing to hold but its own breath. Actually, six hundred crowds. I rounded up.

  5. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorOne Utah march ended at a library ballot box. Eleven o'clock, deposit your vote. Please return it quietly.

  6. Tobias WrenfieldA library. Beautiful. Very still. That is the energy of a person whispering a revolution.

  7. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorWhispering?

  8. Tobias WrenfieldWhispering. I strike my singing bowl when the room is loud, and the bowl stayed quiet all day.

  9. Tobias WrenfieldFour hundred crowds, honestly, if we're counting the ones that mattered.

  10. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd many prominent Democrats skipped it. So the gatherings stayed politically neutral by accident?

  11. Tobias WrenfieldNo, they chose absence, which is a powerful form of presence. I've coached maybe two hundred absences.

  12. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTobias, you started at eight hundred crowds and you're at two hundred absences.

  13. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorSo a movement against kings got a route, a dress code and a deposit time, and the boldest thing anyone did was a slot at a library.

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The story so far

  1. No Kings heads to the polls to boost early voting · The Guardian
  2. No Kings protests set for Saturday as early voting begins · Washington Examiner
  3. Two Kings, One Wrestling Match · Wikipedia
  4. No Kings turns its focus to voting this weekend · NPR
  5. 'No Kings' protests mobilize across California as activists push… · Los Angeles Times
  6. No Kings protesters ignore organizers' nonpartisan rules · Fox News
  7. Voting-Focused 'No Kings' Day Draws Subdued Crowds (this story)

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