WHen Protest meets street theatre
‘Let Them Eat Cake’ demonstration in downtown Fargo
By Ingrid Harbo
April 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM
On Saturday afternoon, April 26, around 200 people gathered on a street corner across from the Federal Building in downtown Fargo to speak out against recent and proposed cuts to federal spending.
Local organizers staged a political farce in protest of federal budget cuts at the hands of the Trump administration.
On Saturday afternoon, April 26, about 200 people gathered on a street corner across from the Federal Building in downtown Fargo to speak out against recent and proposed cuts to federal spending. Many carried signs while they watched members of local political groups perform a short satirical play criticizing President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-North Dakota.
The event was organized by Fearless, the Fargo chapter of Indivisible, and Red River United, the Moorhead chapter of Indivisible. Indivisible is a national organization made up of groups across the country that organize against the actions and policies of the Trump administration.
Richard Loftus, of Oxbow, North Dakota, wrote the script. He played a Marie Antoinette-like Fedorchak.
“It’s a parable, and it’s a little story, and we’re doing a little bit of a reversal of the French Revolution, because it’s the programs that are going to the guillotine,” Loftus said.
Organizers dubbed the event the “Let Them Eat Cake” protest, a phrase often attributed to Marie Antoinette. “Let them eat cake” was supposedly the French queen’s response after being told that her starving subjects had no bread.
The protest was held as the Trump administration cuts federal programs and employees. Many of the cuts have been led by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk. Fedorchak has been supportive of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal spending.
The performance featured a familiar cast of characters lined up next to a wooden guillotine. It included Trump and Musk with a tiny chainsaw in hand, a reference to Musk’s chainsaw-wielding appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this year.
One by one, Trump, played by Fargo’s David Kelsen, called up characters representing Social Security, the rule of law, disability rights, clean drinking water, reproductive rights, LGBT rights, diversity, voting rights, education and science. Each was forced to hand over their money as the guillotine behind them dropped.
“You’re chopped,” Kelsen said to each as the crowd booed.
Last in line was Liberty, played by Bethany Dixon, of Fargo, dressed as the Statue of Liberty. She stood up to Trump’s cuts, using a Wonder Woman-like lasso of truth to get him and Fedorchak to talk about the impact of spending cuts on Americans.
“Real Americans care about their neighbors, their country,” Dixon (as Liberty) said. “They care about me, Liberty.”