Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined thousands across America who took to the streets on Saturday to protest Trump administration policies.
The Democratic congresswoman wasn't at home in California, or in Washington, D.C., but in Scranton.
"If I were not here right now, I'd be at a rally with my daughter in San Francisco," Pelosi said as rain-soaked demonstrators thronged North Washington Avenue outside the Lackawanna County Courthouse. "But I'm here today for a personal reason."
Pelosi, 85, said she came to town for the wedding of a late friend's grandson. Cecelia Lynett Haggerty, who died in October, was Pelosi's college roommate and the maid-of-honor at her wedding.
The personal quickly gave way to the political, as the woman who once wielded the powerful Speaker's gavel brandished a microphone instead to take aim at President Donald Trump's policies. Hundreds of demonstrators listened while balanced protest signs and umbrellas.
"As an example, before, when what's his name was president and he had a Republican Congress, he gave a tax cut to the rich, with 83% of the benefits going to the top 1%, adding $2 trillion to the national debt," Pelosi said.
"This time they want to add $4 trillion to the national debt and give a bigger tax cut for the rich," she said. "Every Republican in Pennsylvania voted for that bill, including your member of Congress here."
It would be the first of many times on Saturday that speakers in Scranton and a later "Hands Off!" rally in Wilkes-Barre invoked Rep. Rob Bresnahan, the freshman Republican congressman from Luzerne County.
Bresnahan has said he opposes gutting Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, despite voting for a House budget resolution that Democrats say threatens Medicaid and Medicare.
Bresnahan said the budget resolution never mentions cutting Medicaid and said it’s only a first step in fashioning a budget.
Pelosi and other Democrats remain unconvinced. She urged the crowd to tell their representatives they don't want to see the programs cut.
"Thirty percent of the people in Lackawanna County depend on Medicaid. It's for the children, of course — that would be justification enough — but it's also for our seniors, for long-term health care ... It's for people with disabilities. It's for our veterans who need additional help," Pelosi said.
"Every Republican in Pennsylvania, no matter what they say when they came home, voted to cut Medicaid by $800 billion," she said, before bellowing "hands off," which the crowd echoed.
Pelosi also gave a nod to Scranton-born President Joe Biden, whose last name is now the name of the former Spruce Street, which runs along Courthouse Square's south side.
"So while we're here in the shadow of Biden Street," Pelosi said, the former president deserves credit for expanding health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
"So we're very grateful to him for that, but we need to renew all of that instead of cutting all of that," she said.
Pelosi's whirlwind appearance was followed by speeches from local leaders including Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, Democratic National Committee Treasurer Virginia McGregor — who lives in Scranton — and Jessica Brittain, communications director for Action Together NEPA, the event organizer.
Cognetti urged the crowd to consider their own stories of how the Trump administration's actions affect them and loved ones, and to share the stories as widely as possible.
"What I want everyone, all of us, to take away today is the power of that first-person account of what Trump and (Elon) Musk and congressional Republicans are doing to us," Cognetti said. "Think about what that story is for you, and how you can tell that story. Is it calling the radio? Is it a letter to the editor? Is it getting your friends together and making sure that they understand the pain that your family is feeling because of these direct cuts?"
As the crowd shivered in the rain, Cognetti reminded them how cuts could affect communities across the country as local leaders look to protect residents from climate change.
"As mayor of the City of Scranton, the story that I am telling is the disaster recovery and relief fear that I have as FEMA gets cut, as the National Weather Service is getting cut, and I don't know as mayor if we're going to have the tools to warn all of you about storms as quickly as we used to," Cognetti said.
"How is this making America great? They don't care," she said.
Gaughan urged the crowd to think about why they turned out on a rainy Saturday.
"Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans are not just pushing a different agenda. They're not just doing things differently. They are waging a war against the very foundations of the American promise," Gaughan said.
"They want to rip away Social Security from the hands of working people who paid into it with every paycheck. They want to cut Medicare and Medicaid, leaving our seniors and our most vulnerable neighbors without care. They want to steal funds dedicated to researching and curing diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's Disease, while giving tax breaks to billionaires," Gaughan said. "They want to privatize and wall off public goods — schools, libraries, transit, and even clean air and water."
"And while the stock market — which we know they all love — and the economy are tanking, Donald Trump is out golfing," Gaughan said, referencing the President's much publicized weekend on the links in Florida.
Brittain also sought to contrast wealthy politicians with working Americans.
"Billionaires don't need help putting food on their table. Billionaires don't need access to affordable healthcare, and they're not wondering how they're going to pay their next medical bill. They're not worried about whether they can put gas in their car," she said. "They're worried about accumulating more power and more money."
"They do work for us," she said. "We have the power. It may seem sometimes like it's a little dark. ... But the best thing we can do when we are feeling scared, or when we are feeling hopeless, is to come together."
Two hours later hundreds more people came together at Wilkes-Barre Public Square for a similar rally.
Longtime Pittston City Councilman Danny Argo joined them.
"I'm very disgusted with the Trump Administration. They're making drastic cuts ... and the tariffs, and it's just a complete debacle, and he's only in there three months," Argo said.
"Something has to be done. He has to be stopped. This is the way to do it, to get the people out," Argo said, gesturing around the square.
A short distance away, Richard Ursiak from Dallas took photos as Phil Bosha from Wyoming held up a Liverpool soccer scarf that intertwined the British team's logo with blue and gold stripes reading "We stand with Ukraine."
While most speakers at the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre rallies focused on domestic issues, some — like Bosha — carried signs and flags demonstrating support for Ukraine, Canada, Greenland and other countries that Trump's policies could affect.
Bosha worries Trump's hostility toward Ukraine puts the Eastern European country's independence in jeopardy as it continues to fight a Russian invasion that began three years ago.
"Ukraine deserves to be an independent country, and not part of the old Soviet Union, and that's what (Russian President Vladmir) Putin wants," Bosha said.
On the opposite side of Bosha's soccer scarf is Liverpool's famous motto, "You'll never walk alone," which carried a dual meaning in this case.
"They're brave people," he said of Ukrainians.
Among the other Wilkes-Barre speakers were state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, community organizers, members of the LGBTQ community, a Geisinger nurse who spoke about the nurses' ongoing labor dispute, and people who spoke about the direct impact of potential federal cuts on their families.
Luzerne County resident Lois Grimm, a career services professional, spoke about her life raising a young son alone two decades ago,
"With these federal and state funded programs, I was able to continue to work full time and provide a safe, warm, clean home for both of us," she said.
"Because my son had Medicaid, he was able to go to all of his well-baby visits. My son benefited from vaccinations, antibiotics, and even a hospitalization early in his life because he had Medicaid to cover his expenses," Grimm said.
"It's important to know that a lot of people in your neighborhood, a lot of people in your family, a lot of people in your workplace need help," she said. "That is our money. It's not the billionaires' money. We should fight back and say 'hands off!'"
