The Stack: No Kings, No Crowns, No Clue
The “No Kings” rallies made plenty of noise but very little sense. Todd takes a closer look at what these protests got wrong—and what they accidentally revealed about how far the left’s rhetoric has drifted. Drawing from America’s founding principles, he explains the difference between monarchy and the constitutional republic we actually live in, and why the Founders deliberately built a government to limit power and protect liberty.
From Madison’s warnings about human nature to Washington’s reminder that a free people need moral character, Todd connects the dots between history, politics, and the present moment. Along the way, he skewers the “King Trump” narrative, points out the irony of people freely protesting an alleged dictator, and credits the movement—for once—for staying peaceful. Plus: the Schumer Shutdown grinds into day 20, and Todd tips his hat to the Colts for another win.
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🎧 Listen to Today’s Episode
📰 Stack Links
PBS NewsHour – Millions Turn Out Nationwide for “No Kings” Protests
Idaho Capital Sun – Rest Easy Idahoans: The “No Kings” Demonstrators Are American Patriots
Al Jazeera – What Are the Anti-Trump “No Kings” Protests Planned Across the US
People.com – Donald Trump Posts AI Video of Himself Bombing Protesters
National Constitution Center – Article II of the U.S. Constitution
Epoch Times – When Could Government Shutdown End and What Might Finally Force Breakthrough
MarketWatch – This Government Shutdown Could Be the Longest Ever
Reuters – FAA Says U.S. Air Traffic Control Staffing Issues Cause Flight Delays
U.S. Courts – Judiciary Funding Runs Out; Only Limited Operations Continue
White House – Remarks on Supreme Court Student Loan Decision (6/30/2023)
Wake Up to Politics – No, Biden Didn’t Defy the Supreme Court
📝 Transcript: No Kings and the American Republic
The Todd Huff Show – October 20, 2025
Host: Todd Huff
Todd Huff: That is right, my friends. Conservative, not bitter. Indeed. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for joining us today. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Had a nice weekend here myself. The Colts are now, what? Six and one? Is that right? Six and one. Hard to believe. I thought they might be one and six at this point, but that's another discussion, another topic for another day.
Todd Huff: But had a good weekend. Hope you did as well. I've got a lot of things I want to get to in the stack of stuff. And a lot of this revolves around the No Kings rallies, protests—whatever you want to call it.
Todd Huff: By the way, kudos—kudos to the left, from what I'm seeing reported now, that these were nonviolent protests. Now, I'm not saying that it's 100% true, but by and large, that seems to be the case. And I want to applaud the left for at least figuring this out at this particular point in American history.
Todd Huff: Doesn't appear like I have to do the "when a protest becomes a riot" bit that I do from time to time on this program just to keep it straight for the left. Heck, maybe they've been listening here. I don't know—but kudos to them for not burning the country to the ground over the weekend. So I want to talk about that today.
Todd Huff: I also want to talk about this whole concept of what a monarchy even is. I want to talk about what government is. I want to talk about what our type of government is. I want to talk about the framework—and how it matters. How it matters. The arguments, the debates that have been had and will be had for the lifespan of this country and the lifespan of governments this side of heaven, my friends.
Todd Huff: So that's what I want to talk about. I also want to talk here about day number 20—as the program unfolds—day number 20 of the Schumer shutdown, which we'll get to in due course, my friends. That's where we're headed today, and I appreciate you being here.
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Todd Huff: All right, let's talk about this No Kings rally—protest, whatever you want to call it here over the weekend. And I want to start by talking about monarchy. I want to talk about the type of government that we have in this great nation.
Todd Huff:
So let's go back in the history books a bit here. And we've done part of this before—some of this will sound familiar if you’ve listened to this program for any length of time. But I’m going to buzz through it quickly, especially for new listeners as our growing program reaches new people and new markets.
Todd Huff:
So when this nation was founded, we defeated the British, right? We broke free from the British. We said, "You're not going to be totalitarian dictators over us anymore. We believe that our rights come from God, not from you."
Todd Huff:
And you're not going to be telling us how to live our lives. You're not going to micromanage us. You're not going to deny us representation—right? "No taxation without representation," all that stuff.
Todd Huff: And if you read the Declaration of Independence, you’ll see that it is a laundry list of abuses that the British government—the real monarchy—had instituted over the people in the colonies.
Todd Huff: And so they basically said, for these reasons, we've tried everything in our power to get along with you. We've tried to make amends, we've tried to work with you, but this has become untenable. And so now we have declared that we're independent. "Sayonara, sucker. We're not messing with you any longer."
Of course, the war broke out, and at the time of that war breaking out—despite what anybody tells you today—the Americans were considered massive underdogs in this fight.
Todd Huff: Especially when you think about the realities—and keep this in mind as you think about the political landscape here in 2025—it was roughly (and I’m giving rough estimates here) one-third in favor of the Revolution, one-third opposed to it, and one-third saying, “Leave me alone, don’t pull me into this.”
Todd Huff: That sounds familiar, doesn’t it? So don’t forget: one-third of the people caused the Revolution to take place.
So America fought for her independence. She won her independence. And the Founders had some decisions to make. Typically, what happens when people overthrow another government is the victors set themselves up as the new rulers. But our Founders didn’t do that.
Todd Huff: And this is remarkable—our Founders decided to actually believe in what they had written. And again, they didn’t do it perfectly—slavery was still an issue—but they built a framework designed to protect liberty and prevent tyranny.
Todd Huff: They said, “We’re not going to create new subjects. You’re not subjects—you’re citizens.” And those citizens have rights that come from God, not government.
They doubled down on the words of the Declaration and built the Constitution around that principle.
Todd Huff:
And instead of the government telling the people how to live, the Founders said, “We’re going to get the consent of the governed.” The people are free. Their liberties come from God.
But as Madison wrote in Federalist No. 51, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” And that’s true.
Todd Huff:
So you’ve got this friction: we are created to be free, but men are not angels. We need a system of government for order, for justice, to protect ourselves from other countries, to have a way to institute law and order.
And so what the Founders decided—after the Articles of Confederation failed—was to create a Constitution that gave the federal government limited power, just enough to function, but not enough to dominate.
Todd Huff: They said: “The people are giving their consent to government.” The people are free, their rights are given by Almighty God—but they’re handing over a limited amount of power to the federal government to deal with the realities of life, because men are not angels.
Jefferson wrote, “It is to secure our rights that we resort to government at all.”
Todd Huff: So government exists to protect rights—not to give them. And unlike earthly kings, God Himself is the only perfect King—pure, faultless, and just. So we don’t need to fear His rule, but we must fear the rule of men when power is unchecked.
Todd Huff: The Founders said, “We want the smallest government possible.” They outlined powers carefully—executive, legislative, judicial. Checks and balances.
They wanted freedom protected while recognizing that government still must exist. They learned from the Articles of Confederation that too little power makes government useless; too much power makes it tyrannical.
Todd Huff: So they built a system that would—ideally—do what was necessary to secure liberty without trampling it.
As John Stossel says, “Government is force.” And since force is never good in itself, we want as little as necessary.
Todd Huff: So on this side of heaven, we instituted government here with checks and balances—trying to balance giving enough power to govern while preserving freedom. That’s why we have a Constitution.
We do not have a king. We do not have a monarchy. We have an executive—a president.
Todd Huff: The president has executive power, yes—but Congress declares war. That’s a big power. And even that power has checks and balances built in.
So government has power, but only enough to do what’s necessary. That’s the genius of our system.
Todd Huff: Friends, take a deep breath here. As I get into this today—again, we’re going to talk about the No Kings rallies, protests around the country—but before I do that…
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Todd Huff: So, getting back to the government that we have: the Founders separated powers and balanced authority.
They knew we weren’t going to have a monarch or king. And that’s a good thing.
Todd Huff: A couple quotes from the Founders give us insight into what they were building. Alexander Hamilton said in Federalist No. 1, “The vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty.”
George Washington said in his Farewell Address, “The very idea of the power and right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty to obey.”
Todd Huff: The Founders understood that freedom only survives if the people are moral and self-governing. If we don’t follow moral law, we eventually get anarchy—which looks a lot like America today.
That’s why Todd says the real solution is spiritual revival—a turning back to Jesus Christ, the God of the Bible, embracing truth.
Todd Huff: So that’s ultimately what’s at stake. But we also have political battles—and protests—like these “No Kings” rallies.
So what is a monarchy? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a monarchy is a system where supreme authority rests in one ruler, usually for life, often hereditary, and typically unchecked by other branches.
Todd Huff: That’s very different from what we have. If you go back to the Bible, you’ll find examples—like King Nebuchadnezzar—of what absolute monarchy looks like. Nebuchadnezzar wanted people to bow down to his image, and those who refused, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were thrown into a fiery furnace. That’s absolute power. That’s what a king does.
Todd Huff: Compare that to Trump. These protesters call him a king, but we still have elections, courts, and checks. That’s not a monarchy.
Now, here’s what protesters said they were demonstrating against: Trump using federal forces in U.S. cities, defying courts, deportations, “King Trump” imagery, and remarks about a third term.
Todd Huff: Trump or someone reposted an AI image of himself flying a fighter jet over the protesters, dropping what looked like… well, excrement… on the crowd. He was wearing a crown in the image. And people said, “See! He thinks he’s a king!”
But he’s trolling them.
Todd Huff: If Trump were truly a king, we wouldn’t have government shutdowns. He wouldn’t be going through the courts. There’s a quote someone once said: “Trump’s opponents take him literally but not seriously. His supporters take him seriously but not literally.” And that’s exactly right.
He’s trolling the opposition—and they fall for it every time.
Todd Huff: Now, can presidents overreach? Sure. Every one of them has. But to pretend Trump is a monarch is just silly.
And where was this outrage when Biden ignored the Supreme Court on student loans after Biden v. Nebraska? Where were the “No Kings” rallies then?
Todd Huff: Both sides test limits of power. That’s politics. That’s why checks and balances exist. Even courts can overreach. So can Congress. If any branch should hold more power, it’s probably Congress, because it’s made up of many representatives—not just one person.
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Todd Huff: Welcome back, my friends—third and final segment of today’s program.
We’re going through these No Kings protests. Millions of people, maybe—but that’s fine.
Here’s the thing: they claim Trump’s using federal forces or talking about taking over local policing. You could argue that’s executive overreach—but there are precedents and laws governing that.
Todd Huff: Defying courts? I haven’t seen a single case of Trump defying a court order. Let me know if I’m wrong. As for the crown imagery? Again—trolling. The “third term” talk? Also trolling. The Constitution forbids it. It’s not happening.
Todd Huff: So yes—Trump teases it, jokes about it, maybe sells a few hats. But he’s not a king. And if he were, protesters wouldn’t be in the streets chanting “No Kings.” Kings don’t allow protests against themselves.
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Todd Huff: So, in closing: we can all agree we don’t want kings. Our system—this Constitutional Republic—is built to prevent them. Trump isn’t a king. He’s not even close. And I’ll give credit where it’s due—the protests were peaceful this time. That’s progress.
Todd Huff: But the bigger fight is still spiritual.
And as always, my friends, I thank you for listening. Have a wonderful day.
SDG.
