It's a very strange reaction by Politico's senior editor Michael Schaffer to the federal takeover of the Washington, D.C. police force. In fact you could categorize that reaction as disappointment as you can see in his Thursday piece expressing amazement as to "Why Washington Residents Aren’t Flooding the Streets to Protest Trump."
As if to emphasize that disappointment, the subtitle chimes in with this frustrating (for Schaffer) observation: "DC is built for protests. But after Trump’s takeover, they aren’t happening."
Where, oh where are the mass protests against the federal takeover of the DC police? Let us take a journey with poor Schaffer down Disappointment Lane:
In the late summer of 2025, following an unprecedented Trump administration takeover of local law enforcement, the best local critics have done so far is a relatively small procession from Dupont Circle around the White House demanding that “Donald Trump must go.” “Danger! Danger! There’s a fascist in the White House!” marchers chanted, at one point yelling at the occupants of a National Guard Humvee, which was quickly surrounded by D.C. Police. It was a well-organized, energetic demonstration, but all in all, there were only a few hundred marchers.
To paraphrase a line from the New Testament: Michael wept.
"Where’s the rest of this famously progressive city?"
Enjoying their new-found safety in a low crime city?
To hear activists and national Democrats tell it, the takeover of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department and the flood of federal forces into the capital are a sign of rising authoritarianism. It may be happening in Washington thanks to an odd constitutional status, but the president himself has talked about sending forces to other Democratic-led cities next.
Yet considering those alleged stakes, the nation’s capital has been weirdly quiet. Last weekend, the military vehicles parked at photogenic locations around the National Mall were surrounded by curious photographers, not outraged civil libertarians. Some friendly tourists even asked the troops for selfies.
Disappointed much, Michael? Would you prefer the residents screaming angrily like TDS maniacs at the feds who were keeping their streets blessedly safe?
...there was little evidence of, you know, the Democratic Party. That’s the organization that won over 90 percent of D.C. votes in the last election. Where ambitious conservative notables took to the capital after the 2020 election to associate themselves with Stop the Steal protests, none of the small public demonstrations against the takeover have so far featured appearances from the Democrats’ local political big shots, much less their national celebrities who also reside in town.
Paging Democrat bigshots and national celebrities! Why are you not acting out performance outrage as you usually do?
Schaffer's disgust over the lack of large demonstrations boils over to the point where he flat out angrily calls President Trump a liar:
What explains the quiet? In conversations around town over the past week, it’s quite clear that Washington is a city where many locals are plainly outraged by the president’s falsehood-filled description of the place as a crime-ridden hellscape — and where many others are profoundly uncomfortable about armed federal outsiders being urged by the president to “knock the hell out of” opponents.
A "falsehood-filled description" of the crime situation? Notice that Schaffer conveniently neglects to mention the DC police scandal in which it was revealed that the crime stats were cooked.
Schaeffer even sought out the deranged, oops, I mean "strident" George Conway to seek answers for why the expected mass protests have not materialized.
“The only thing I can think of is, it’s August and people are away,” said George Conway, a strident Trump critic who told me the police takeover was “a step to controlling what’s happening in the capital, whether it’s legislation or the streets.” He said hadn’t been aware of any serious protest since the police takeover was announced. He said there might be a change once fall arrives.
Perhaps "strident Trump critics" Rick Wilson or Keith Olbermann can provide you with more satisfying answers.