By Askold Lozynskyj
Cape May Courthouse is a mid-sized town in the southern part of New Jersey by the shore some 150 miles south of New York City. It is the government hub of Cape May County, where the courts and government offices are located. In recent history it is generally acknowledged to be Republican country and even MAGA.
On Saturday, April 5, 2025 a crowd of close to 1000 people gathered on Route 9 near the corner of Mechanic Street in Cape May Courthouse. They held flags and signs. The flags were American and, perhaps surprisingly, Ukrainian. The signs read “Dump Trump”, “Dump Van Drew”, “We will defend Democracy”, “No Tyranny”, “Save Medicare and Social Security” and even “Give me liberty or Give me death”.
I mingled in the crowd, urging them on with a bit of a cynical exhortation, “It’s about time!” and spoke to two of the protesters who displayed Ukrainian flags. I simply asked whether they were Ukrainian. In both cases they said “no” but added “we love Ukraine”, “Ukrainians are protecting us and the whole world from tyranny.” I was obviously very proud and acknowledged my Ukrainian background. They showered me with accolades about the courage of the Ukrainian people and how the entire world owes them a debt of gratitude.
Cape May County went for Donald Trump in the last presidential election by what is considered a landslide, 59% to 41%. Jeff Van Drew, the congressman from the 2nd congressional district of New Jersey which includes Cape May County won by 58% to 42% over his Democratic challenger. As noted he was an object of disdain as well.
Van Drew has never voted in support of aid to Ukraine and is considered one of the more sycophantic members of Congress. I had on one occasion visited his lone office in New Jersey. Since then I have written to him many times with only proforma replies. I have inquired as to a town hall meeting with no response. He is also an unprincipled renegade having once been a Democrat similar to his hero Trump. To be fair I should not criticize him for that since I am now a registered Republican in his district, intent on making his life miserable.
I stepped into a public library located some two hundred feet from the corner where many of the protesters had congregated. As I reached for The New York Times I said to myself, “Let’s see what else the idiot did.” Frankly, I often vocalize my thoughts. It gets more frequent with age. A man of roughly my age asked to what idiot was I referring. He then acknowledged that he had been a Trump supporter and while he was not participating in the protest, he was proud to be an American because here people can protest. I submitted to him that there are protests in authoritarian countries like Turkey against the dictator President Erdogan so America is not that exceptional.
After a brief chat including my lesson on the level of Trump’s education and the nefarious background of both Fred and Donald in New York City real estate, he admitted that he was watching the protest and not quite sure where he stood at this time. He did confess that Trump’s
first 75 days have concerned him. He also acknowledged that his own wife and daughter were among the protesters.
Protests like this one are taking place not only all over America, but all over the world. Loss of jobs, inflation due to rising tariffs, a stock market crash because of all of this and the uncertainty in the future have made Donald Trump a global and national pariah. Bad economic politics, arrogance, circumventing the Constitution and the other branches of government have made Trump the least popular American president of the modern era. Resistance to tyranny is a formula that has been in use for centuries. For me, unlike most Americans who have been hit greatly by essentially evil (this cannot be only stupid) Trump economics, there is much, even more important solace. The American people have not forgotten and continue to support and even applaud Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
April 5, 2025