FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Maria Baker’s daughter was just furloughed.

She worked for a subcontractor of USAID, the international aid organization that President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have sought to shutter over the last few weeks. Their recent actions might upend everything she has worked for over the last 13 years.

“She doesn’t know what to do,” Baker told The South Florida Sun Sentinel Saturday afternoon. “Her career is ruined. There’s no job for her now.”

The concerned mother was one of approximately 200 people who gathered on the sidewalk outside of the Tesla dealership in Fort Lauderdale around 1:30 p.m. They carried signs reading “Tesla Loves Fascism!” and “Musk Be Gone,” chanting “trade it in!” at the Tesla drivers who inevitably passed. One giant banner simply read “LAWLESS.”

For many of the protesters, the recent actions of the current administration, in which Musk now plays a key role — including mass layoffs, the removal of federal programs and funding for medical research and the scrubbing of LGBTQ information from government websites — felt deeply personal.

“People are really outraged about what’s happening in our government,” said Jennifer Jones, who organized the protest through a local chapter of a progressive anti-Trump group called Indivisible. “We feel like we don’t have a voice.”

Jones had expected a much smaller turnout, but word had apparently caught on and attendees continued to stream in over the next few hours. As the group chanted, many of the drivers heading down Federal Highway honked their horns and gave them thumbs up, though one person yelled “You lost!” and a few people flipped them off.

Some of the protesters carried anti-Trump signs, but mostly they focused their rage on Musk, the world’s richest man, who has become the public face of many of the cuts through his team, DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency. Over the past few weeks, the team has inserted itself into the inner workings of the federal government, slashing jobs and funding for federal programs and leading to calls from critics who have described its actions as a “hostile takeover” and a threat to democracy. Musk has argued that his moves are necessary to cut spending and bureaucracy.

Like Baker, several of the protest’s attendees were already seeing the effects of federal funding cuts or worried that they would soon.

Jones’ wife, Lynne Kunin, said her non-profit, FLIPANY, offers healthy meals to students and feeds 8,000 kids a day. The Trump administration sought to cut funding to organizations including hers. The funding is currently frozen due to a legal challenge.

Many other attendees were disabled or in their 60s and 70s and fearful about cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and funding for medical research. The Trump administration has recently sought to slash funding disbursed by the National Institute of Health to universities, cancer centers and hospitals.

“They’re trying to kill me,” said Lisa Yurkin, 62, who has breast cancer and said she was there “to stand up and help other people with cancer and speak out against what’s happening with these willy-nilly cuts that are affecting literally, the life and death of many people.”

Tiffany Post, 42, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident at the age of 19, said she relies on Social Security and Medicaid for her many doctor’s appointments.

“I just literally need medical stuff,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to pay for it all.”

Many of the protesters waved American flags in addition to gay and trans pride flags. While the MAGA movement has often adopted the American flag and those on the left have fielded criticism over not being patriotic, attendees argued that they came out because they love the country and its democracy.

“I believe that Americans are ready to stand up and take back America,” Yurkin said.

Some also said they had felt alone with their feelings of frustration and fear and wished their representatives, including South Florida Democrats, were doing more to stand up to Trump and Musk. To them, Saturday’s protest felt cathartic.

Steve Eide, 77, has a lot to worry about. He used to work as a contractor for the federal government and has recently seen many of his former colleagues lose their jobs. He’s scared of losing Medicare and Social Security benefits.

“I’m trying not to let it get to me,” Eide said. “I don’t do a lot of television. But I couldn’t pass this up, just to let it out. I was on the verge of tears a little while ago, just seeing all of these people.”

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