WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Women's March was once a powerhouse that took over the streets of the nation's capital during the Trump years, and while the group still has some pull within its sphere of influence, this past Saturday's protest showed just how much that power has diminished.
Instead of hosting the march on the National Mall, just a few weeks before the much-anticipated midterms, the meeting place was off to the side of Capitol Hill in Folger Park. What was there could best be described as a farmers' market atmosphere with slam poetry. Now, to be clear, it's not like the park was empty. By the time of the march, it was quite full. But that's all the famous Women's March could muster on a brisk weekend before November's high-stake elections: one small park in a neighborhood. Also, it's not hard to bring out D.C. residents to support a progressive cause, either.
To highlight the loss of attention this Fall's Women's March received, I was walking toward the park when I ran into someone I knew who was out to lunch with his wife and child. They were right down the street from the march and had no clue it was happening until they noticed some people walking by with pro-abortion signs. By my estimate, there appeared to be 3,000-4,000 protesters advocating mainly for unfettered abortion access.
Contrast that with the 2017 Women's March. Close to half a million people showed up in D.C. to protest the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency. And that's what is missing. Trump was the start of many things, and for progressives, it was payday. After all, he was supposed to be a fascist dictator who would bring death and destruction to the whole world. That didn't happen, of course, but the thought was enough to spur many people into hysteria. That hysteria is still with us, but it manifests itself in different ways now that Trump is not in the Oval Office, which brings us back to what happened after the 2017 Women's March.
Things have changed, such as the leaders of the organization. Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour stepped down from the Women's March after both had scandals. Mallory had ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, an unapologetic anti-Semite. Sarsour also got into hot water for anti-Semitic comments about "folks who masquerade as progressives but always choose their allegiance to Israel over their commitment to democracy and free speech."
But it wasn't just the leaders of the movement who changed. It was also the participants' view of what exactly a woman is. The widely known pink "pussy hats" were a rare item this past Saturday. In its place were trans flags and expressions of women defined as whatever people wanted it to be.
The country's dynamic is also very different from when the Women's March was in its heyday. Gas was cheaper, inflation was not out of control, and Roe v. Wade was still the law of the land, which is why, given how abortion was the main issue being advocated for this weekend, you'd think there would be more vigor in D.C., but then again, it's not surprising.
In a CBS poll conducted in Wisconsin, far from a deep red state, abortion is the top driver for Democrat voters, but it is not the top issue for the rest of the electorate because, again, the economy and public safety are in the toilet. Even the issue of the border crisis and all of the problems it brings ranked the same as abortion, 51 percent.
This from our @CBSNews WISCONSIN poll shows the midterm elections in a nutshell: Abortion is the top driver for Democrats, but not for the wider electorate. The economy and inflation are ranked as the most important issues overall. pic.twitter.com/yRWr5YjosJ
— Caitlin Huey-Burns (@CHueyBurns) October 9, 2022
The Women's March is like every other far-left organization that reached new heights because of Trump and is now having trouble being relevant, such as the Lincoln Project and CNN. While the Women's March will continue to have some success within its bubbles, it ain't what it used to be.
