Fox News host Will Cain did something many in the mainstream refuse to do: he called out the “No Kings” movement for the glaring contradictions inside its own ranks. While organizers preach peaceful patriotism and “defending democracy,” footage and eyewitness accounts from across the country show chants and gestures that look disturbingly like celebration of violence. Conservatives aren’t anti-protest — we’re pro-consistency, and Cain’s point was simple: words matter and actions reveal true intent.
The scale of the October 18 demonstrations was massive, with organizers and independent estimates putting millions of people in thousands of locations nationwide — a show of force that Democrats and media elites eagerly celebrated as a civic outpouring. Yet that same nationwide footprint came with alarming pockets of ugliness that the left’s hand-wringers are suddenly eager to ignore or excuse. When the protest becomes a license for hatred and threats, it stops being civic engagement and starts looking like a mob.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s response — including reposting an AI-generated clip mocking the protests by depicting “King Trump” dumping sludge — only added fuel to the fire and handed the media a new culture-war flashpoint. Love him or hate him, Trump understood the narrative advantage of highlighting hypocrisy and mockery; the left’s tantrum over the video proves Cain’s point about selective outrage. If protest leaders demand civility, they should answer for the violent rhetoric coming from the crowds they mobilize.
The evidence of that rhetoric is not hypothetical. Videos showed demonstrators celebrating and even mimicking the assassination of a conservative activist, and at least one public-school teacher was filmed mocking the killing — behavior that should alarm every parent and citizen. Conservative commentators rightly asked: would the New York Times or local school boards have been so quick to look away if the roles were reversed? The double standard is obvious and dangerous when it protects political tribalism over basic decency.
Vandalism, obscene graffiti, and isolated arrests in cities like Denver and Los Angeles further punctured the claim that these gatherings were uniformly peaceful and principled. Local officials in some places condemned the destruction of property and the diversion of city resources — reminders that political theater has real costs for ordinary taxpayers and business owners. Law-and-order conservatives insist that the right to protest does not extend to intimidation, threats, or criminal conduct, and those who organize mass rallies must be held accountable when mobs cross the line.
At bottom, Will Cain’s airing of the contradictions on display should be a wake-up call to anyone who still believes the left’s moral lecturing is sincere. Americans want honest discourse, not performative virtue backed by threats and vandalism when the cameras leave. If the left wants to reclaim credibility, it will denounce the violent fringe, discipline its own, and stop pretending that every ugly moment can be blamed on political opponents. Hardworking patriots deserve nothing less.
