Hundreds of thousands of women and their male supporters turned for the second Women's March, a nationwide series of protests against U.S. President Donald Trump marking the end of his tumultuous first year in office.
The coordinated rallies in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and about 250 other cities, including Park City in Utah that was host to the Sundance Film Festival, featured speaker after speaker blasting Trump for policies that many said hurt women and urging voters to turn out for congressional elections in November. Sister rallies were staged in cities overseas.
Trump responded on Twitter by touting the economic gains of the past year and how they benefited women. "Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March," he wrote.
"Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months.
Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!". Joblessness among women was 3.7 percent in December, below the overall U.S. unemployment rate of 4.1 percent, according to the Labor Department.
Many of the protesters wore pink knit "pussy hats," which were created for last year's march as a reference to a comment made by Trump about female genitalia.
The caps quickly became a symbol of women's empowerment and opposition to the new president in the early days of his administration.
Saturday's march follows what many see as a pivotal year for women's rights, with the rise of the #MeToo and #TimesUp social media campaigns against sexual harassment and misconduct.
The movements sprang up after a string of scandals involving powerful men in Hollywood, Washington and elsewhere.
