Editor’s Viewpoint: Commissioner King’s ‘No Kings’ Rally Speech Contradicts His Nonpartisan Platform

By Rebecca Wallis

Yamhill County, OR – October 24, 2025

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Commissioner David “Bubba” King proved that when he attended and spoke at the “No Kings” rally on October 18.
Despite running for office on a platform of nonpartisanship, King’s public participation in the rally, a distinctly partisan event, tells a different story.

The No Kings protest, now a national “alliance” of local areas, was organized as a national day of demonstrations targeting conservative political figures and supporters of President Donald Trump. It was not a neutral or nonpartisan event. 
King not only appeared at the rally but delivered a speech aligning himself with progressive social positions, advocating for illegal immigrants and LGBTQ youth, and condemning what he described as “leaders who mistake silence for neutrality.” Commissioner King’s stance goes against US laws as outlined by the U.S. Department of State.

The Interview 

King gave an impromptu interview to independent media streamer Jay Harrison, published to YouTube on October 18, before delivering a prepared address to the crowd. Read the interview transcript here. (The full transcript located at the end of the article for ease of reading.)

Speech at No Kings Protest by Commissioner David “Bubba” King

My name’s Bubba King. I’m here today not as a politician, but as a neighbor and as a father, someone who believes that this is worth fighting for.
I’m proud to stand here today with Marvin Bernards and with all of you because what’s at stake here is right now is nothing less than our freedom, our dignity, and our future.
We’re living in a time when laws are being written to divide us. Leaders look away while families are being targeted, and when too many people mistake silence for neutrality.
Let’s be clear, this isn’t politics. This is people’s lives.
When undocumented workers live in fear of being torn from their families, that’s not policy. That’s cruelty.
When LGBTQ kids are told to hide who they are, that’s not debate. That’s dehumanization.
And when those in power stay silent, they’re not neutral. They’re complicit.
Let’s talk about what keeps us moving. It’s the undocumented immigrants who pick our grapes, milk our cows, who keep our small businesses alive at every level.
They are not outsiders. We are neighbors. We’re co-workers. And they are the backbone, I believe, of where we live.
And to the LGBTQ community; you belong here. You matter. You deserve safety and respect, not suspicion or shame.
Because when the rights of our friends are taken away, your rights are at risk too.
And to those who have the privilege of safety and comfort, it’s time to step off the sidelines. If you’ve never had to worry about being profiled, or deported, or targeted for who you are, then this is the moment you stand up.
We all know this, and it should be, this should be common sense, but here we are.
Freedom only works when it belongs to everyone. Justice only matters when it’s shared.
If we don’t defend the rights of the most vulnerable, none of our rights are secure.
We cannot afford leaders who look away just because the pain isn’t their own. We cannot afford boards that put politics over people.
We need majorities across this county that put the rights and safety of marginalized people first, before their comfort, before their donors, and before their careers.
Because this is where we draw the line.
No more looking away. No more tolerance for hate dressed up as policy. No more pretending freedom isn’t selective.
Not under my watch. Not here. Not ever again.
Because we are Yamhill County, and when one of us stands up, we all rise.

A Contrast with His 2024 Platform

When King ran for Yamhill County Commissioner in 2024, he presented himself as a nonpartisan problem solver. In his official Yamhill County News Candidate Forum, King pledged to represent “all residents, regardless of political affiliation,” and to lower the political temperature in local government.
He described himself as a non-affiliated voter and stressed that “being nonpartisan means making decisions based on what is best for the entire community, not driven by party lines or ideology.”

However, his appearance at a rally steeped in national politics and his choice to advocate for divisive national causes stands in sharp contrast to those statements.
This is not opinion; it is a matter of public record. King’s own words and actions show clear alignment with progressive causes that are politically charged and partisan in nature.

Past Public Alignment

This is not the first time King has publicly aligned with organized groups or causes. In October 2024, then-Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer noted in a Facebook post that King attended a union rally outside the Yamhill County offices, handing out campaign materials and engaging with public employee union members on county property.
That incident was followed by additional appearances at rallies supporting labor causes and social justice issues throughout the year.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

While King continues to describe himself as a nonpartisan leader, his record increasingly suggests otherwise. His participation in the No Kings rally, both as a speaker and visible supporter, demonstrates that his political activity now extends well beyond local, nonpartisan governance and into the realm of national activism.

Interview transcript: 

Interviewer: You’re Bubba, right?
Bubba: Yes, sir.
Interviewer: I thought so.
Bubba: How are ya?
Interviewer: My name’s Joe.

Interviewer: Can you step over here a little bit
Bubba: Sure.
Interviewer: just so I don’t get people all triggered and upset?
Bubba: Oh, yeah.
Interviewer: Do you mind if I ask you a hard question?
Bubba: Well, let’s see.
Interviewer: Feel free. I mean, okay. So, here we are. This is Bubba Smith.
Bubba: What are you going to—what are you filming for?
Interviewer: Um, I’m an independent. I’m just doing my own thing. I have my own channel.
Bubba: OK.
Interviewer: Um, I have a lot of conservative friends that don’t want to come down and be a part of this.
Bubba: OK
Interviewer: So, I’m trying to get the real story.
Bubba: Okay.
Interviewer: So, I’m going to give you a chance to, you know, straight on. I’m not going to assume things. I’m just going to straight ask you.
Bubba: All right.
Interviewer: So, how do you feel and how would you—okay, you represent the entire Yamhill County.
Bubba: I’m a representive. Ya.
Interviewer: Okay. Okay. And there’s a vast majority of people that don’t agree with this. So, what would you say to them now that you’re here being a part of this? I think that’s a pretty unbiased question.
Bubba: Sure. I think that, you know, everybody’s entitled to their right and opinions about, you know, our president.
Interviewer: Okay.
Bubba: Whether your opinion of Bush or Reagan or, you know, Obama or whoever it is, everyone’s entitled to have their opinion,
Interviewer: and that’s actually written in our Constitution.
Bubba: our constitution, ya.
Interviewer: So you can’t argue that.
Bubba: You can’t argue, yeah.
Bubba: So, I think that, you know, this is a demonstration of people who are frustrated with the current state of how they feel they’re being treated, so.
Interviewer: Okay. Can you give an example of how they feel they’re being treated wrongly?
Bubba: Well, I mean, for me, in my position, you know, we’re seeing a lot of the federal states, you know, our states’ rights being attacked. And I believe that that is a conservative stance, right? It’s states’ rights, local control, so on and so forth, right? And so now a lot of our funding is being held hostage because of our state’s sanctuary state status.
Interviewer: Okay. So—
Bubba: That’s a, that gets really hard, right, for me to do my job because we’re dependent on that pass-through funding from the federal government to the state, then to us.
Interviewer: Okay. Truth be told, I work not directly, but I’m adjacent
Bubba: Okay
Interviewer: to an organization that receives federal funding.
Bubba: ya.
Interviewer: And so I kind of understand that argument.
Bubba: ya.
Interviewer: Okay. I’m not arguing. But how would you answer—’cause from our perspective
Bubba: mmhhm
Interviewer: , and I’m going to say, all right, I don’t speak for everybody, but from the conservative perspective
Bubba: mmhhm
Interviewer: , we feel like if you say that we want to handle our own, we want to keep it in-house, we want to do our own thing
Bubba: sure, ya.
Interviewer: —okay, as a person that does certain things that I do
Bubba: ya
Interviewer: , I understand that completely.
Bubba: Ya
Interviewer: I don’t like her. So, you know, we believe in handling things in-house.
Bubba: Sure.
Interviewer: But what about when it gets to the point where half of your constituency feels like it’s not being handled in a proper way, so they have to go above your head—is kind of the—you follow what I’m saying? I don’t know if I’m saying that exactly properly, but—
Bubba: For, for me. For me to Yeah, I mean, that’s what the ballot box is for, right? If I’m misreading the room, if I’m not hearing my constituents, if I’m not being, you know, then—and I’m not paying attention, I don’t take the time to talk to somebody that might not have the same position as me—
Interviewer: which I’m going to state on the record, I appreciate you talking to me
Bubba: —right? Then I don’t belong to be in the position, I believe, right? And I would always leave room to change my mind, right, before I make that decision, so.
Interviewer: But okay. So, let’s say a specific incident. Obviously, we don’t have it as in-depth reaching here. You know, we’re a little bit away from the fray, so to speak.
Bubba: mhhm, mhhm.
Interviewer: I was at the ICE facility
Bubba: Ya, ok.
Interviewer: last weekend. Um, What would you say—because you say that, you know, the federal people are standing in, and I’m gathering from what you’re saying that you don’t agree with that.
Bubba: Yeah.
Interviewer: Um, The ballot box does not stop what’s going on on McAdam.
Bubba: Well, then, you know, I mean, no, it doesn’t. You got to wait four years, or you know, if we’re talking about me—well, I’m on the same cycle, right? So me and President Trump, we’re on the same—you know, you got to wait three and a half more years, right? That’s a long time.
Interviewer: But let’s say somehow it comes to Fifth Street
Bubba: Sure
Interviewer: and we have—
Bubba: and you have national guard on the
Interviewer: —three months
Bubba: OK.
Interviewer: of rioting, and—and not necess—I know the argument, it’s not a riot
Bubba: Ya.
Interviewer: the general nuisance, lawlessness, interrupting a neighborhood, terrorizing people that live there.
Bubba: Mhmm:
Interviewer: Let’s say it happens on Fifth Street.
Bubba: Yeah.
Interviewer: Are you going to feel bad about the federal government wanting to step in and help quell something that obviously is either outside of the want or outside of the ability
Bubba: sure.
Interviewer: of local government to—
Bubba: Ya. Well I think you have to, man, I think you have to pay attention to what local government is saying as well, right? And if we want to have police, you know, back our police, right?
Interviewer: mmhm.
Bubba: Then I’m going to take—I’m going to work with our sheriff and say, you know, where do you need, you know, what do you need with me in order for your deputies to be safe, in order for these things to happen. If this is out of control, then there’s levers we can pull, right? But I don’t need somebody to dictate to me what it is my job is.
Interviewer: Okay. But we’re in the unique position in Portland where the mayor is the police commissioner
Bubba: Ya.
Interviewer: there. There is no going above his head.
Bubba: mhhm.
Interviewer: It is all run from Portland City Hall
Bubba: ya.
Interviewer: , and Portland City Hall is incredibly corrupt, incredibly biased
Bubba: Sure
Interviewer: , incredibly leaning.
Bubba: Mhhm. Sure, ya .. leaning.
Interviewer: I know this from personal experience. And they’re ignoring the general population of their constituency
Bubba: Sure
Interviewer: At like say again I don’t know if I’m using the right words I’m off the cuff here —in favor of a small minority of people that don’t seem to care about the rule of law or consideration for other residents or anything like that. Again, if it happened here—
Bubba: Mhhm, You know, I’m not one to—I think that we get the right to protest, you know, whichever you want.
Interviewer: Agree.
Bubba: I’m not one that typically shows up to a protest. It’s not usually my style, right? I’d rather work behind the scenes.
Interviewer: But you’re here at this one, so you obviously must feel very strongly about this.
Bubba: I do feel strongly about this one. And so where I start to have a problem is that where do marginalized communities are being affected, and the livability of every—of every constituent is important, right? And so these—
Interviewer: And that includes career criminals.
Bubba: this, well, no, that’s not what I said. But this war between the federal and our state government—and I’d be happy to hold the state government accountable as well for this—
Interviewer: I don’t think you have an issue. Our state government’s on your side.
Bubba: It’s not my side. No, it’s not my side.
Interviewer: They agree with you.
Bubba: No. Well, I mean, but I have an extreme problem—
Interviewer: Tina Kotek’s at one of these rallies somewhere, probably.
Bubba: I have an extreme problem with how she has handled this, right? And how far this last long session, right? It kind of—it’s a both way street, right? It’s now—
Interviewer: So even people on your side of the aisle, which I mean obviously you’re in a nonpartisan position,
Bubba: right.
Interviewer: so it’s hard to say your side of the aisle—
Bubba: And I’m not—and I’m a non-affiliated voter.
Interviewer: Okay. But yet people with your point of view are not happy with her as well. It’s not just conservatives.
Bubba: I’m not. I don’t—I can’t speak for everybody, right?
Interviewer: Well, your general feeling—I understand, I won’t hold you to it—but your general feeling—
Bubba: And I’d like to make it clear too that I’m here today as me, right? Not as county commissioner—
Interviewer: But that’s a hard—you got to admit that’s a hard fine line, you know what I mean?
Bubba: It is a hard line. People recognize me and know who I am, and that’s—
Interviewer: I recognized you as soon as you got out of your car. I’m like, oh, there’s Bubba.
Bubba: Yeah, and I’m aware of that. So yeah. But hey, I appreciate—
Interviewer: Okay, yeah, I’ll let you get to your thing. I appreciate you taking time to—
Bubba: ya of course.

Editor’s note: This article is factual, however some of our more liberal readers will view the truth as opinion. Therefore, we have published as an editor’s viewpoint. 

Photo Credit: Jay Harrison