Jan 20, 2018

Back-to-back marches energize activists

Axios

Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images

"President Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to directly address the March for Life anti-abortion rally in Washington. He spoke live via satellite from the White House Rose Garden" to the crowd on the National Mall, per USA Today:

  • "Previous presidents [including] Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush addressed the march via phone call or recorded message."
  • "[T]he annual rally ... marks the 45th anniversary Monday of the Supreme Court's Roe. v. Wade decision."
  • Why it matters: "Trump's speech to marchers gave the protest added visibility, rededicating himself to a conservative base that he sees as the key to his election victory in 2016."
  • Read Trump's remarks.

Happening this weekend ... "Women will march again with aim to become a political force," per AP:

  • "Activists are returning to the streets a year after a million people rallied worldwide at marches for female empowerment, hoping to create an enduring political movement that will elect more women to government office."
  • "Hundreds of gatherings are planned Saturday and Sunday across the U.S. and in places such as Beijing, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Nairobi, Kenya."

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