Moore, Warren Kick Off Women's Marches With Words of Protest

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, Senator Elizabeth Warren and other prominent liberal leaders lined up at microphones across the nation to voice demands during a series of women's marches in the nation's cities, insisting their message was not only about women's rights, but about human rights they say are in jeopardy with President Donald Trump.

Moore, in Washington D.C.: "If the federal government comes to take our Mexican brothers and sisters away, 30,000 people say I will do it. You have to be willing to put yourself on the line.It's that important. The next thing on the to-do list, you have to run for office! You! Yes, you!"

Moore continued that he himself is an introvert, but when he was 18 years old and a senior in high school and "couldn't stand the principal or the assistant principal and their backward ways. I decided to run for school board."

He learned he just needed 20 signatures on a petition, and he knew "20 stoners who will sign anything...I got the 20 signatures. I ran. I won. I became the first 18-year-old in the state of Michigan to win public office."

"You can do this," said Moore. "Who is going to run for office? Run for city council? Run for school board? Shy people, there is an office for you. Precinct delegate. Run for precinct delegate. You only have to go to the county convention once a year."

Moore noted that Trump, in his inauguration speech, vowed to end "American carnage," and said protesters were there to end Trump's carnage.

He urged protesters to call their representatives and swamp them with calls.

"Call Congress," he said. "Join groups. Join Planned Parenthood...I support Planned Parenthood wherever. I contribute to them. I have done fundraisers for them. I realize, I never joined. So this morning, I joined Planned Parenthood."

He also called on marchers to form their own "rapid response" teams, and to "take over the Democratic Party" as "the old guard of the Democratic Party has to go...we need new leadership. We need young leadership. We need women leadership. We need people of color. We need gay and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. I support Keith Ellison as the new DNC chair. He is a great organizer, and he is our only Muslim member of congress.

Warren, in Boston: "The power of women to come up with good ideas like this rally. The power of women to organize like this rally. And the power of women to make sure that as our country enters a new political era, that the voices of the people will be heard."

Story continues below video.

The sight of Trump being sworn in is "burned into my eyes forever," said Warren. "And I hope the same is true for you. Because we will not forget. We do not want to forget. We will use that vision to make sure that we fight harder, we fight tougher and we fight more passionately more than ever not just for the people whom Donald Trump supports but for all of America."

Warren said Americans are worried about Trump's "attacks on African-Americans, attacks on Latinas, attacks on religious groups, attacks on immigrants."

Further, she said, a "Trump-Pence Supreme Court could overturn the Roe V. Wade decision, while dissolving the marriages of LGBTQ citizens. A Republican congress is eager to rip away healthcare from millions of Americans."

Warren, sporting a Planned Parenthood scarf, said that America's hard-working families have taken punches including decades of "trickle-down economics and attacks on unions, attacks on wages, attacks on pensions, attacks on healthcare, attacks on social security, attacks on education, attacks on infrastructure and financial regulation have gutted America's middle class."

Trump and the Republican Congress will ram through laws making the tilt even worse, said Warren, calling for Americans to fight back.

"That is why we come together today," Warren said. "Hundreds of thousands of people in Boston, in Washington and across this country. We are in marches to say we are fighting back. That's who we are. We come here to stand shoulder to shoulder, to make clear we are here, we will not be silent, we will not play dead, we will fight for what we believe in."

Warren said the vision she and millions of others hold is a fight for basic dignity and respect for human beings.

"Second, we fight for economic opportunity," said Warren, "not just for those at the top, but for everyone, all of our kids deserve a fighting chance to get ahead. Respect for everyone. Economic opportunity for everyone. That is the American deal. And that's what we fight for."

She also called for raising the nation's minimum wage, as "we believe that no one in this country should work full-time and live in poverty."

"Unions built America's middle class and unions will rebuild America's middle class," said Warren. "We believe that every young person is entitled to get an education without getting crushed by student loan debt. We believe in debt-free college."

Protesters also believe in science, said Warren, and there is a moral obligation to protect the Earth for the nation's children and grandchildren.

"We also believe that immigration makes us a stronger country," said Warren. "We will not build a stupid wall! And we will not break millions of families apart, not on our watch. And we believe that sexism, racism, homophobia and bigotry have no place in this country. Black lives matter.Diversity make our country stronger."

Related Stories: