Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post

The Trump Years Launched the Biggest Sustained Protest Movement in U.S. History. It's Not Over.

| Feb. 08, 2021

Here's what we learned by counting the protests during the past four years

During Donald Trump's presidency, the United States saw what were probably the largest and broadest single-day protest events, and the largest sustained protest movement, in its history.

At Count Love and the Crowd Counting Consortium (CCC), we have tracked protests for and against the Trump administration and its policies, along with other local demonstrations, since early 2017; when we began, we explained our methods here at TMC. Through Inauguration Day 2021, we counted nearly 60,000 protests and marches, with 21 million to 31 million participants, as you can see in the figure below....

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation:

Chenoweth, Erica, Tommy Leung, Nathan Perkins, Jeremy Pressman and Jay Ulfelder."The Trump Years Launched the Biggest Sustained Protest Movement in U.S. History. It's Not Over." The Washington Post, February 8, 2021.

The Authors

Erica Chenoweth

Erica Chenoweth

  • Academic Dean for Faculty Engagement, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
  • Member of the Board, Belfer Center
Expertise:

Tommy Leung

Nathan Perkins

Jay Ulfelder

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