PORTLAND, Maine — More than a dozen demonstrations were held Saturday in communities across Maine, from The County to Kittery to Down East, as part of a nationwide event protesting the Trump administration and Elon Musk.

According to a report by the Associated Press, more than 150 groups were involved in the planning for roughly 1,200 demonstrations in all 50 states.

The demonstrations were in opposition of billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump and his administration, particularly in regard to government downsizing, the economy, human rights, federal funding pauses, the restructuring of government agencies, and more, according to the Associated Press.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, spoke at the Portland rally in what his spokesperson said was an unplanned visit.

“Are you ready to stand up?” King asked the crowd. “Do you believe that the power of the people is more important and stronger than the people in power?”

King spoke about an amendment he proposed Friday night to deny tax cuts for anyone earning more than $1 billion per year, which he said was voted down.

King then spoke about what he viewed as two major concerns, which he called “things that are really bad” and “things that are really dangerous.”

“The bad is DOGE. They’re firing people for no good reason. They’re gutting Social Security. They’re gutting the VA. They’re going to fire 83,000 people at the VA. And they say, ‘Oh, it won’t affect services.’ Do you believe that?” King said of the agency headed by Musk. “That’s the really bad part.”

King went on to say the dangerous part is what he said was “the most serious assault on our Constitution in the history of this country.” 

They are closing agencies that was created by Congress. They are impounding funds that are appropriations bill,” he continued. “Why is this important? Old James Madison got it right. He said, if you put the legislative power, the executive power, and the judicial power in the same set of hands, that’s a perfect definition of tyranny.”

King was referencing a section in “The Federalist Papers,” which reads as follows: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” 

King went on to describe three “guardrails” to combat the bad and the dangerous: Congress, the courts, and the people. 

The senator said of Congress, “they’re not doing diddly right now,” and called some of his colleagues “deliberately oblivious.” King said the courts are doing OK, though he noted several instances the Trump administration has attempted to disparage the judicial system. 

“I have hope. This is a great country with great people, and I’ll go back to what I said at the beginning: The power of the people is more is stronger than the people in power,” King said in conclusion before leaving the rally.  Hundreds of people also gathered in Bangor, where organizers and attendees said they were spurred into action over recent decisions like the U.S. Department of Agriculture federal funding freeze and how the cuts sill directly impact Mainers. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who recently launched her gubernatorial campaign, spoke at the Bangor event.   “The targeting of our state, the cuts to veterans’ health care, to our schools, to our farms,” Bellows said.  A small group also gathered in Bangor to protest against Gov. Janet Mills and counterprotest the demonstrators.