Thousands of people flocked to our nation’s capital Sunday to raise awareness for populist health and anti-war causes at a rally that featured keynote speeches from former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Canadian psychotherapist Jordan Peterson, and English comedian Russell Brand.
Despite the overcast weather, a mostly working-class crowd stood in the muddy grass as the program took place on a stage adjacent to the Washington Monument which was adorned with Kennedy’s slogan, Make America Healthy Again, at the top of the structure.
The speeches were heavily against government overreach, threats to Americans’ freedoms, and staunchly anti-big pharma and anti-war.
“This came together because of the effort of a small number of people that were also behind the Defeat The Mandates rally. It was kind of a small vanguard of people that worked tirelessly for over a year to put this together,” Dr. Robert Malone told NTD News.
Malone, according to The Unity Project, “is perhaps best known for his trailblazing work as the original Inventor of the mRNA vaccine platform used in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.”
Spectators traveled from all over the country to attend the event and network with like-minded individuals.
Kenny Johnson, a Wisconsin truck driver, flew to Washington with his brother Zephaniah, to “spend as much time here as possible and try to get to know like-minded people like myself. It’s not very often for me to be able to speak this openly,” he said.
The Johnson brothers are admittedly not fans of former President Donald Trump, but they like “the people Trump has around him,” such as Kennedy, Gabbard, and Elon Musk.
His brother will be voting for Trump, but Zephaniah, who votes in Minnesota, hasn’t made up his mind yet. “I like Tim Walz, but I don’t like anything about Kamala,” he said.
“We’re very nuanced,” the Johnson brothers agreed.
Gage Coates, a CNC machinist who makes parts for airplanes, stood at the back of the rally flying a Gadsen flag overhead for over five hours.
“We build the bridges, we build the roads, we make the cars, everything that keeps the country running,” said the younger Coates, when asked why the working-class supports wealthy men like Trump and Kennedy. “When I hear them speak, they care about the building blocks of this country.”
Coates drove over eight hours with his family from New Hampshire just to attend the rally.
Gage’s father Ernest Coates, the vice president of UWS Steelworkers 2866 labor union, said he is proud to see his son “standing up for something he believes in,” and that Trump’s connection with blue-collar workers is because of “the ability to make policies that are directly benefiting the middle class.”
Late in the day, Brand and Peterson took the stage in what appeared to be a mix of intellectual lecture and sketch comedy act, with Brand making jokes while Peterson played the straight man. Brand later led the crowd in Christian prayer.
The status of the event was in jeopardy the last few days as Hurricane Helene hit the southeast, causing major storms and flooding throughout the region. Speakers like Malone were grateful that the show still went on, even despite the worry of being rained out.
“I’m pleasantly surprised we’ve had this much of a turnout. There were threats of storms, but despite that, people have still come out. And I think this has been a success,” Dr. Malone said.