Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul criticized President Donald Trump's upcoming military parade, becoming the first Senate Republican to cast doubt on the event, which is set to be met with protests across the country.
The parade is set to honor the Army's 250th anniversary, which also falls on the day the president turns 79. Tanks, artillery launchers and about 7,000 soldiers, as well as hundreds of thousands of attendees are expected to show up in Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Avenue while the president watches from a viewing stand south of the White House.
The event has largely been met with enthusiasm by fellow Republicans, who claim to be looking forward to celebrating the co-birthdays. However, the Kentucky Senator criticized the parade's imagery, saying that showing off lethal hardware is something other countries do, but not the United States.
"I wouldn't have done it," Paul told reporters. "I'm not sure what the actual expense of it is, but... we were always different than, you know, the images you saw in the Soviet Union and North Korea. We were proud not to be that."
The parade will come at a time of increased protests across the country. Since last week, demonstrations have taken place in Los Angeles, resulting in thousands of National Guard being deployed to the Golden State to squash protesters. The once peaceful protesters have now been met with arrests, rubber bullets, tear gas, and more.
As protests in L.A. continue, they are also spreading to other parts of the country. In all 50 states, coalitions of pro-democracy, labor and liberal activists are arranging a full day of counterprogramming to make the case that Trump is hijacking the army celebration to venerate himself, NBC News reports.
"The goal is to deprive Trump of what he wants in this moment, which is a story about him being the all-powerful political figure of our time, and instead create a contrast with normal, everyday people demonstrating that power in this country still resides with the people," said Exra Levin, a co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible, who is helping organize what participants have dubbed a nationwide "No Kings" demonstration.
Another group called Women's March is also arranging protests to coincide with the parade, a series called "Kick Out the Clowns." Organizers expect up to 5,000 people to participate in Madison, Wisconsin, alone, Tamika Middleton, chief political and strategy officer of Women's March, told NBC News.
But regardless of the thousands of protests expected across the country, the president himself says he is unfazed, saying he has not heard about the scheduled demonstrations, while warning reporters that protesters this weekend will face a "very big force."
"And I haven't even heard about a protest," Trump added, "but you know, this is people that hate our country. But they will be met with very heavy force." Likewise, at a news briefing this week, a Secret Service official said thousands of agents and officers will be on hand to provide security.
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