While tens of thousands of Angelenos poured into the streets for Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstrations, Councilmember Traci Park spent the day promoting herself at a local festival, far removed from the political energy sweeping her own district. From Venice to Santa Monica to Westchester, residents of Los Angeles’s westside, the most anti-Trump part of the city, joined millions nationwide protesting the Trump administration’s authoritarian turn. Park, a former Republican who re-registered as a Democrat to run for office, was silent.
According to The Guardian, Republicans across the country largely stayed quiet as the “No Kings” rallies unfolded, a day when the rest of the nation’s political spectrum was mobilizing against Trump’s escalating power grabs. Apart from a few hostile remarks from party leaders like JD Vance and Mike Johnson, the GOP had little to say. That silence, meant to signal loyalty to Trump, was deafening. And on the Westside, it found its echo in Traci Park.
The rallies Park ignored were not marginal. The Los Angeles Times listed more than 30 across L.A. County, including three in and around her own district: a march at Abbot Kinney and Venice Boulevard, a gathering at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, and a rally at Sepulveda and La Tijera in Westchester. The Venice event took place just a few blocks from Park’s home, an easy walk for the councilmember who instead chose to stay away. Backed by the ACLU, SEIU, and MoveOn, the rallies drew broad, multiracial, multigenerational crowds calling for democracy and immigrant protections.
Park’s absence looks less like indifference than fear. Only days earlier, she had posted a video celebrating a new LGBTQ+ crosswalk and the unveiling of plaques honoring Venice’s queer history. The comment section quickly turned toxic, filled with vitriol from her own followers. “Groomers need to be in prison,” wrote one. “Virtue signaling perfection, Traci,” said another. Others sneered, “Pathetic,” “Weirdos,” and “What a waste of city resources.” One commenter added, “Time to do burnouts on that crosswalk,” while another mocked her for “spending time in Venice” instead of focusing on “big government land grabs.”
That outpouring of anger from her base revealed the contradiction at the heart of Park’s politics. She may now call herself a Democrat, but the loudest voices in her political orbit remain steeped in right-wing hostility toward LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and social progress. Rather than challenge them, Park has chosen to appease them, even if it means isolating herself from her own constituents.
Her silence during one of the largest anti-Trump mobilizations in Los Angeles history shows how completely she sits outside the city’s political mainstream. The mayor and nearly every other councilmember have denounced Trump’s agenda. Even centrist Democrats see the “No Kings” movement as a civic baseline. Park, meanwhile, continues to cultivate a narrow base of right-leaning donors and MAGA sympathizers, alienating the overwhelming majority of her district.
Unrig LA’s analysis of 2024 voting data makes that isolation plain. Council District 11 gave 76 percent of its vote to Kamala Harris, among the highest in the city, and ranked second in turnout. Voters here supported marriage equality, a minimum wage increase, and public and affordable housing, all issues Park has undermined or opposed.
In Los Angeles, the “No Kings” protests represented the political center of gravity, a broad repudiation of Trumpism that even leftists saw as an entry point for deeper radicalization. Traci Park’s decision to ignore a rally steps from her own door leaves her politically stranded, too conservative for her district, too calculating to lead, and too afraid of her MAGA base to stand up when it matters most.
