Yes, our anti-Trump protests are working and here’s solid proof

Major protests are exploding almost every weekend since Nov. 8, and naysayers (both political pessimists and blind-to-the-facts Trump supporters) are quick to try and tell us both online and IRL that these demonstrations are a waste of time.

“He’s the president,” they moan, broken records in the form of Facebook statuses. “It’s time to just accept it.” This isn’t going to change anything, they write from the comfort of their couches.

They are dead fucking wrong.

In the 10-or-so days since the inauguration, demonstrations have picked up gale-force strength as a rapid response to the newly-minted president’s flurry of cruel executive orders, and now we have solid proof that our refusal to yield is working.

Within hours, tens of thousands of people poured into airports and surrounding roads to protest Trump’s widely criticized travel ban. In a period of fewer than 24 hours, the ACLU raised over $24 million — more than in all of 2016. With that, they’re able to enlist lawyers to take on immigration cases pro bono and take the Trump administration to court, like they did this past weekend.

And it’s not just the bottom line that’s assisted by protests. Never underestimate the power of public pressure. After the extreme backlash, amendments were made to the executive order that allowed green card holders to exit detention (on a case-by-case basis from Priebus, but still). A judge also granted a stay on the order, mostly because it’s unconstitutional as fuck, but the crowd of thousands outside the courthouse and a massive public condemnation certainly didn’t hurt.

Now, planned protests are resulting in Trump canceling a trip to Milwaukee. According to an administration official, President Trump was slated to visit the Harley-Davidson factory there, but the trip was shut down because the company didn’t want to deal with a large anti-Trump turnout. The president was slated to sign a manufacturing-related executive order during the trip.

While these seem like small things, they’re absolutely massive for the people affected. And it means we now have a precedent of influence. Trump hates bad ratings — and his are currently abysmal. Take comfort the next time you’re told that your voice doesn’t matter, that things are the way they are. Remember: the president works for us.