180 turn out to protest Trump, complicit Republican Congress

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – Along an intersection that attracts a reported 70,000 vehicle trips per day, 180 people waved signs, shouted chants and raised their arms in appreciation to motorists who honked their horns in support of their protest of Republican President Donald Trump.

Brookfield Democratic Town Committee member Kerri Colombo, the organizer, said of the event at the intersection of Federal and Candlewood Lake roads, “It shows our legislators that people are coming out and people are angry. They want Congress to stop Trump and all his executive orders.”

Aaron Zimmer - a former chairman of the Brookfield Town Committee, said at the Saturday, April 19, event - “If the Republicans in Congress stand up to Trump, they get his attention, and that is never gool. They know that they are going to face a primary and may lose their job.”

Remarked Colombo, “It takes a brave person to stand up, but we need more people who are brave. There has been a complete overreach of executive powers. Congress holds the purse. There are too many executive orders.”

The signs had such messages as: “Checks & Balances Make America Great,” “No Kings:” “Hell No Trump Must Go,” and “My Rights Matter.”

Trump won Brookfield in last November's election by about 400 votes.

Colombo, a former vice chairman of the Brookfield Democratic Town Committee and the party’s candidate in the 2020 race in the 107th state House District, said she will continue to organize rallies over the coming months.

Should Trump have focused more attention since taking office again on lowering a record $36 trillion budget deficit and trying to secure the long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare, which reportedly may be faltering in less than a decade?

“Yeah,” said Zimmer, who ran in 2024 for the seat in the 107th state House District. “There also is the cost of eggs and the cost of groceries. He said he was going to lower prices and we’re not anywhere near focused on any of those things.”

In an interview with Patch.com on Friday, April 18, the day before the protest, Republican State Senate Leader Stephen Harding (R-30) of Brookfield said, “I voted for the president. I certainly support the president. In terms of the Democrats protesting, that is their right and that is why we have a great country.”

Wall Street Journal columnist Karl Rove, the former W. Bush White House political director, wrote recently that, “We aren’t 100 days into Donald Trump’s second term and many Americans are already exhausted. They’ve had way too much thrown at them.”

Said Harding, “We had a previous president [Democrat Joe Biden] who was completely inactive. So when you see a president get elected and is working every day it is going to seem like a stark contrast. I think it is the lack of involvement from the previous administration that is at issue.”

Rove added, “But on the key issue of the economy, Americans aren’t happy. Mr. Trump’s campaign promise to break inflation has been replaced by a fixation on raising tariffs, which nearly three-quarters of Americans expect to hike prices. We’re also confused: Is the goal getting trading partners to lower their tariffs on U.S. goods and services? Or replacing our income tax with high tariffs on foreign goods?”

Remarked Harding, “I am a free market capitalist. I generally don’t support tariffs or [increased] taxes. At the end of the day, the president has a vision to re-establish the manufacturing work force in the country. I have to respect what he is trying to do on behalf of the American people and the American worker.”

China has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 2001. Has it abused its position?

Harding commented, “I think China has utilized extremely unfair trade practices for a very long time. This administration seems to have made an effort to address the fact that China has been operating illegally in the trade market.”

Colombo said that the rallies, which have been held nationally over the recent weeks, are attracting a wide array of people.

“We’re getting unaffiliated voters who want to get involved and take a stand,” she said.

Zimmer said a residual effect will be to help Brookfield Democrats maintain their control of the municipal government in the November 4 election.

Democratic First Selectman Steve Dunn announced in March that he would seek a nonconsecutive fifth term in the job. The only announced Republican candidate is Karl Hinger, the vice chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Zimmer, who was the Democratic Town Committee chairman during the 2023 municipal campaign when the party recaptured control of the town hall, said, “This kind of mobility is going to bring new faces to the fold. It is exactly what we need. Outrage is one of those things that gets people off the couch.”