D.C. residents push for Airbnb block-off to protest Trump inauguration
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Some D.C. residents are calling for local Airbnb owners to block off their rental properties during President-elect Trump's inauguration to protest his administration's proposed policies.
Why it matters: It's another example of liberal D.C. pushing back against the administration that will soon move to town.
State of play: The goal is for locals to either remove the inauguration weekend dates from their rental property's offerings on Airbnb or to donate that weekend's proceeds to progressive causes, one of the organizers, Stacy Kane, tells Axios.
- Kane, who has an Airbnb in Brookland and did not vote for Trump, plans to take her property off the platform and instead use it to host friends attending the People's March on Jan. 18, the Saturday before Trump's second inauguration.
- The group has spread the word through social media, neighborhood listservs and a website, which calls out potential Trump policies that could affect "people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, immigrant communities" and D.C. residents.
Between the lines: Trump has said he wants to "take over" D.C., carry out mass deportations, and implement policies targeting the transgender community.
What they're saying: "[We want to] help support some of the people who this new administration has promised not to support," says Kane. "People are looking for any type of resistance to Trump and some of his policies."
- Kane says she's also fearful about what could happen in the city during the inauguration after living through the Jan. 6 insurrection.
While Kane doesn't have a way to track the number of planned participants, she says she's heard from several locals who intend to take part.
- When Axios searched Airbnb for rentals over inauguration weekend, the site said there were over 1,000 options in the Washington vicinity.
The other side: An Airbnb spokesperson tells Axios the platform is seeing standard listing numbers, nightly rates, and search trends for inauguration weekend, per the spokesperson.
- "Airbnb connects guests and hosts of all political perspectives, we welcome guests visiting Washington, D.C. for the inauguration, and we are committed to ensuring that this is their experience on the platform," the spokesperson says.
- "Our policies and Terms of Service make this clear, and if we learn of instances where these are violated, we take action."
The bottom line: The call-to-action isn't a protest of Trump voters, but specifically the president-elect and his suggested policies, Kane tells Axios.
- "This is not meant to further divide people," she says. "My hope is it inspires people to do any small thing that they can do within their locus of control."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to add a comment from Airbnb.