On a day when many media pundits were reluctantly describing President-Elect Donald Trump’s win as a “mandate,” thousands of Americans took to the streets in defiant opposition to Tuesday’s results.

Many of those people just 48 hours earlier lectured Republicans to accept the outcome and expressed outrage that Trump would not unconditionally agree to accept the results before the election.

“The media and the leftists conspire on these riots. Good ratings and disruptive chaos — totally coordinated.”

Close

“I’m here today because I’m speechless at what happened,” 22-year-old Rebecca Gomez told NBC News at a protest in Chicago. “I’m Mexican, but I was born in the United States. I’m afraid people won’t care about that, though. I’m afraid they will be violent.”

President Obama and defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton both urged supporters to give Trump a chance to lead. But some of their followers were in no mood to listen.

Protesters in several cities chanted, “Not my president.” Demonstrators in Chicago shouted slurs outside Trump International Hotel & Tower. In California, students at several high schools in the San Francisco area walked out of classes, and a huge crowd in Los Angeles demonstrated outside of City Hall.

In Philadelphia, about 1,000 people gathered at the Municipal Services building and then marched against traffic on Broad Street, according to philly.com.

CNN reported that as many as 5,000 people staged a protest outside Trump Tower, yelling about immigration and the Affordable Care Act.

“I came out here to let go of a lot of fear that was sparked as soon as I saw the results,” protester Nick Powers told the network.

LifeZette Editor-in-Chief Laura Ingraham blasted the demonstrations.

[lz_related_box id=”244056″]

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

“The media and the leftists conspire on these,” Ingraham said of the protests, “good ratings and disruptive chaos — totally coordinated. Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Seattle? Come on. What a joke. These protests should be ignored — staged news.”

The rowdiness on the streets played out even as lawmakers in Washington were adjusting to the new reality.

“He just earned a mandate and we now have a unified Republican government,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters in his home district in Wisconsin. “He turned politics on its head and now Donald Trump will lead a unified Republican government and we will work hand in hand.”