Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Hundreds of protesters march outside the Kentucky State Capitol to rally against current social distancing requirements and business closures in Frankfort, Kentucky [Bryan Woolston/Reuters]

'LIBERATE': Trump tweets support for anti-lockdown protests

After saying governors would decide when to reopen, Trump urges supporters to 'LIBERATE' some states led by Democrats.

In a provocative series of tweets on Friday, United States President Donald Trump appeared to support protest movements popping up around the country calling for an immediate end to the lockdowns imposed on Americans in an order to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump began his tirade with a call to "LIBERATE MINNESOTA". He quickly followed with two more missives calling for similar action in Michigan and Virginia. All three states are currently headed by Democratic governors, and Michigan is considered crucial to the president's re-election bid in the November general election.


Trump's tweet about Virginia, a state once solidly Republican that turned Democratic during the 2018 midterm elections, included a call to "save your great 2nd Amendment". The state's Governor, Ralph Northam, signed new laws last week that expanded background checks and imposed new limits on gun purchases.

The tweets - which were posted just moments after a report on Fox News Channel about the protests - marked a reversal from Trump's tone on Thursday, when he said he would defer to state governors about when and how quickly to remove the quarantine orders. When asked about the protests on Thursday, Trump said he sided with the governors.

"I think they listen to me," Trump said of the anti-lockdown protestors. "They seem to be protesters that like me and respect this opinion. And my opinion is the same as just about all of the governors."

Responding to Trump's tweets, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, accused the president of encouraging "illegal and dangerous acts".

"He is putting millions of people in danger of contracting COVID-19. His unhinged rantings and calls for people to “liberate” states could also lead to violence. We’ve seen it before," Inslee tweeted.

"The president is fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies - even while his own administration says the virus is real, it is deadly and we have a long way to go before restrictions can be lifted," he added.

Protests against lockdowns
Conservative media hosts and some Republican leaders have in recent days started to bristle against the continued shutdowns, arguing that the damage being done to the economy and citizens' livelihoods outweighs the strain being placed on the healthcare system.

In Minnesota, protesters in that state planned to gather in front of the governor's mansion on Friday to protest against a stay-at-home order that has been in place since March 25 and businesses deemed non-essential have been closed since March 16.

In a social media post, the group behind the protest - calling itself "Liberate Minnesota" - wrote, "Minnesota citizens now is the time to demand Governor [Tim] Walz and our state legislators end this lock down! Thousands of lives are being destroyed right now. It is not the governor's place to restrict free movement of Minnesota citizens!"

Also on Friday, residents of the state of New Jersey paraded a line of cars in front of Governor Phil Murphy's office in the state capital, Trenton, chanting "no more fear" and "where is my bill of rights".

Similar protests have popped up in states around the country, including Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Utah, and North Carolina. Mixed in among the US flags and hand-scrawled protest signs at most of the locations have been political signs supporting Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's re-election campaign.

Protesters in Kentucky yelled, "Open up Kentucky" and "You're not a king, we won't kiss your ring" in the Kentucky capital of Frankfort, where Governor Andy Beshear, also a Democrat, was attempting to hold a news briefing on Wednesday.

In Utah, headed by Republican Governor Gary Herbert, the protesters called that state's attempts to contain the coronavirus pandemic unconstitutional.

"The government, at all levels, has overstepped its authority in their request to 'protect' Americans from a virus," Mary Burkett, a Republican candidate for Utah's 2nd congressional district who participated in the demonstration, said in a news release. "The American citizen is perfectly capable of deciding how to best protect themselves."

The protests are ramping up just as a number of governors, including some of those targeted by Trump on Friday, begin to announce an easing of the restrictions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Friday that schools would remain closed the rest of the academic year, but that some businesses would be allowed to reopen gradually starting next week.

In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said on Friday that she hoped to loosen some of the strictest lockdowns in the nation beginning in two weeks, and Minnesota's Walz announced that golf courses and a number of other outdoor activities, along with the businesses that support them, could reopen on Saturday morning.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×