This week, we asked readers their opinions on the growing “No Kings” movement after three Bronx rallies were held in the borough on Saturday, March 28, including one at East 161st Street in front of Bronx Borough Hall, one in Mt. Eden, and one in the East Bronx.

 

In terms of checks and balances, in his first term in office, U.S. President Donald Trump made the most use of executive orders to push through his agenda of all presidents in the last 50 years or so [since U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, who took office and was immediately sworn in after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy] according to reporting by CNN in 2017.

 

In his second term, as of March 25, according to Ballotpedia, Trump had issued 103 executive orders, the most a president has issued during the first 100 days of an administration since at least 1933.

 

An executive order is a directive issued by the U.S. President to federal agencies and officials that manages operations of the executive branch, guiding how laws passed by Congress are implemented and enforced. It carries the force of law without congressional approval, allowing for fast action on policy,, but it cannot create new laws or override existing statutes.

 

On April 2, the president reportedly fired U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Last month, he fired U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kirsti Noem. Read our coverage of the latest Bronx ‘No Kings’ rally here. Read our coverage of prior No Kings rallies here and here.

 

“We are definitely here to support democracy. We live in a democracy, we don’t have kings, we elect presidents and they have to serve the people, because we are a country of people.”

Sky Switser,

Concourse Village

“There are no kings in the United States despite these frenzied rallies organized by the Democrats who are the masters of demonstration, rallies and riots.”

Sheikh Musa Drammeh,

Morris Park

“Donald Trump is the worst president ever.”

Sailor Switser,

Concourse Village

“I’m feeling that we don’t have kings in the United States. We are all immigrants; we all have rights. Do you know how much I’ve cried seeing these things? My family is from the Dominican Republic, and they had a dictator for 30 years, Rafael Trujillo. The United States tried to help remove him.”

Helen Lopez,

Fordham Heights

“I don’t agree with it. I don’t think we’re in any kind of state of having any king. President Trump is not a threat to democracy; we have checks and balances, so no. I think the Democrats don’t agree on anything.”

Robert El Lakkis,

Pelham Gardens

 

“I think the ‘No Kings’ movement is very important because of what’s happening in America today, everything about the idea of a king being normalized in our nation, and this is not okay. Everything that’s going on with this current administration has to do with the benefit of a king. It is clear that we are no longer a democracy; we are no longer a nation that aspires to be a republic. That’s how this nation was founded. There are no signs we are heading in that direction. That promise has been killed.”

Dale Benjamin Drakeford,

Wakefield

 

“I think it’s a beautiful movement because it brings people together, especially during these times, a very disheartening time with everything going on, it’s really difficult. I’m a human being and seeing what’s going on, that’s what brings me out and who I am brings me out. We all have a story, we all come from places so to think that everyone can just pull themselves up by their bootstraps is not realistic. The way we are treating one another comes from the way this government is being run.”

Courtney Matute-Reales,

Yonkers, N.Y.