The White House posted a Tuesday picture of President Trump and King Charles III with the caption “two Kings” amid the monarch’s visit to the U.S.
Opponents of the president have used the phrase “No Kings” in protests against the Trump administration. On Sunday, Trump rejected the monarch title in a CBS News “60 Minutes” interview.
“I’m not a King, if I was a King, I wouldn’t be dealing with you,” the president told Norah O’Donnell.
Trump blamed the Saturday shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on recent “No Kings” protests across the country, protests that organizers say exist to oppose Trump’s consolidation and expansion of power.
The suspect in the shooting reportedly attended a “No Kings” protest in California in addition to spreading anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric online, according to reports.
“I don’t feel like a king; I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,” Trump said during remarks on the topic last June.
“A king would say, ‘I’m not going to get this.’ A king would have never had the California mandate to even be talking, he wouldn’t have to call up [Speaker] Mike Johnson and [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune and say, ‘fellas you got to pull this off’ and after years we get it done,” he added. “No, no we’re not a king. We’re not a king at all.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed Democrats for the uptick in political violence and Saturday’s shooting.
“This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, by elected members of the Democrat party and even some in the media,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House press briefing on Monday.
“This hateful and constant and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump day after day after day for 11 years has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment,” she said.
Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign and first two years of Trump’s presidency, Democrats have described him as a fascist and king.
However, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) rejected Leavitt’s comments blaming Democrats for political violence nationwide.
“She had the nerve to stand up there and read talking points being critical of statements all taken out of context that Democrats have made and didn’t have a word to say about anything that MAGA extremists have said or done, including providing aid and comfort to violent insurrectionists here at this capital on Jan. 6th who brutally beat police officers,” Jeffries said on Monday.
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