Vermont protesters against JD Vance came out in the cold at multiple site demonstrations

Congratulations to the brave Vermonters who gave JD Vance a "you are not welcome here" reception during his family's ski trip.

Echo report published in the Vermont Digger (vtdigger) by Greta Solsaa.

In the wake of Vice President JD Vance’s ski trip to Sugarbush resort this weekend, the Mad River Valley was transformed into a hotbed of protests against the administration of President Donald Trump.

In the largest planned demonstration Saturday morning, Vermonters and visitors stood along a stretch of Main Street by the Mad River Green in Waitsfield toting protest signs and flags that expressed concerns ranging from the state of democracy to climate change to LGBTQ+ rights.

A stream of vehicles sporting similar signage drove by honking and waving, joining in on the morning rally. Protest organizers estimated the turnout in Waitsfield ranged between 1,000 and 3,000 people.

Along with other Indivisible groups around Vermont, Geri Peterson from 50501, a national decentralized protest movement, joined the coalition of organizers to ensure the safety of everyone, given the large expected turnout.

Katayoun Lam, another 50501 organizer, said the Trump administration’s policies regarding LGBTQ+ rights and immigration motivated her to get involved with the Waitsfield protest.

‘Nobody’s supposed to be above the law’: Tisa Rennau, a protest organizer from North Fayston with the group Indivisible Mad River Valley, said many Vermonters were outraged to learn Vance was coming to the region to recreate and vacation after the Trump’s administration’s widespread federal funding cuts and worker layoffs in recent weeks.

Rennau added that Trump and Vance’s clash in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday morning undermined America’s position on the international stage and motivated more people to show up that day.

Ginny Sassaman, a protest organizer from the Indivisible Calais group, said many Vermonters are fearful under the Trump and Vance administration’s policies and she feels “democracy is in peril.” However, Sassaman said protesting is a central form of resisting, along with voting and legal actions.

“People are angry, especially after what occurred in the White House yesterday between Trump, Vance and President Zelenskyy, where we absolutely humiliated our Ukranian ally,” Rennau said. “We are no longer the leader of the free world. What has happened❓ This is not the America we expect to be.”

Many protesters donning the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag lined the streets, and Rennau held a flower bouquet of the same color scheme herself. 

Among the Waitsfield protesters was former Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, who carried a handmade sign that read “efficiency, sure, but not carnage, hate and lies.” Zuckerman said the current administration’s stated goal of efficiency has negatively affected farmers’ loan programs and people’s health care and food access.

“I think you have many folks who feel despair in Vermont right now, including myself,” Zuckerman said. “They’re not following the rules, and nobody’s supposed to be above the law.”

In the neighboring town of Warren, a coinciding protest Saturday morning drew a smaller crowd at the Pitcher Inn, where Vance had originally planned to stay until he canceled those plans.

Meanwhile on the ski mountain:  A handful of protesters also perched by a lift where Vance was rumored to be skiing. Montpelier resident Dan Vidali said he decided to demonstrate at Sugarbush resort because it is important to protest “where the people in power are.”