Billionaires Spent Nearly $300 Million on “No Kings” Protests, Watchdog Group Claims
Wealthy donors contributed over $294 million to fund the recent “No Kings” protests, according to a post on X (formerly Twitter) shared by a director from the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), a political watchdog group.
The nationwide demonstrations, held on October 18, have sparked sharp disagreement between conservative and progressive media outlets. Liberal commentators hailed the protests as among the most significant in U.S. history, while conservatives criticized the events as underwhelming, pointing to an aging crowd and a lack of youthful energy as signs of the movement’s diminishing relevance.
While the political debate over the protest’s impact continues, one fact appears clear: the event was extremely well-funded.
“We traced $294,487,641 to the official No Kings 2.0 partners and organizers,” said Seamus Bruner, Associate Director of GAI, in his post. “All of it funneled through the same ‘Riot Inc.’ dark-money networks.”
Bruner previously raised concerns about these same donor networks at an October 8 roundtable with President Donald Trump. At that event, he revealed that the “Riot Inc.” group of funders had also supported designated terrorist group Antifa.
“Dozens of radical organizations have received more than $100 million from the Riot Inc. investors,” Bruner said at the roundtable.
Among the top funders identified by Bruner were several well-known progressive billionaires, philanthropic groups, and foundations:
- Arabella Network: $79.7 million
- Soros Network (Open Society Foundations): $72.1 million
- Ford Network: $51.7 million
- Tides Foundation: $45.5 million
- Rockefeller Network: $28.6 million
- Buffett Network: $16.6 million
