Top celebrities join protest in NY

Celebrities (front row, from left) Natalie Merchant, Cher and Mark Ruffalo at the We Stand United NYC Rally outside Trump International Hotel on Thursday night in New York City.
Celebrities (front row, from left) Natalie Merchant, Cher and Mark Ruffalo at the We Stand United NYC Rally outside Trump International Hotel on Thursday night in New York City. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

NEW YORK • A-list celebrities joined several thousand protesters on the streets of New York on Thursday night to demonstrate against the incoming Republican President's inauguration.

Hollywood actors Robert de Niro and Alec Baldwin, Oscar-winning director Michael Moore and singer Cher were among those who joined the gathering close to the Trump International Hotel.

A crowd of several thousand people thronged Columbus Circle and Central Park West, the boulevard outside the five-star hotel. "Fight Trump every day", "Justice and civil rights for all" - read placards at the rally.

Baldwin, who lampoons Mr Trump on comedy TV show Saturday Night Live, took to the podium to do his Trump impression. "Are we going to have 100 days of resistance?" he said, revving up the crowd and switching to his regular voice. "Fantastic!" he hollered.

"He does not rule with a mandate," Moore said in reference to Mrs Hillary Clinton's win of the popular vote and Americans who voted for independents. "We are the majority. Don't give up. I won't give up," he said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, issued a rallying cry for progressive politics and urged Americans to rise up and make their objections heard.

"Donald Trump always liked to say he built a movement; well, now it is time for us to build our movement, and that starts tonight."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 21, 2017, with the headline Top celebrities join protest in NY. Subscribe