Bernie Sanders and AOC Draw Massive Crowd in Los Angeles

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) appeared to draw his largest crowd ever as part of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour in Los Angeles near City Hall on Saturday. About 36,000 people gathered for the rally, according to his team. Joan Baez, Maggie Rogers, Neil Young performed leading up to Sanders’ speech, and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) introduced him.

When Sanders took the stage, the crowd chanted “Bernie, Bernie.” He stopped them: “Nope. It’s not ‘Bernie.’ It is you.”

The former presidential candidate strongly condemned President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire leading Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Sanders touched on a variety of issues including the minimum wage, climate change, and Medicare for All, but the main thread was one that has been consistent in his messaging: His movement is that of the 99 percent, not the one percent. 

“We’re going to make our revolution with joy,” Sanders said. “We’re going to sing and dance our way to victory against hatred and divisiveness.”

Sanders noted that Musk had posted a video to X on Friday showing that Sanders has been warning that America is becoming an oligarchy for decades. “Well, Elon, you’re damn right, that’s what I’ve been talking about,” Sanders said.

“The difference is I’m no longer talking about how we’re moving to oligarchy. I’m talking about how we are living today in an oligarchic form of society. Three months ago, when Trump was inaugurated, standing right behind him during his inauguration, were the three wealthiest people in this country, Mr. Musk, Mr. [Jeff] Bezos and Mr. [Mark] Zuckerberg. And right behind them, were 13 other billionaires who Trump had nominated to head up major federal agencies. And that, brothers and sisters, is what oligarchy is all about.”

Musk, for his part, spent $290 million to elect Trump and Republicans in 2024, before being gifted a role with DOGE to purge the federal workforce. 

Following Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump, Democratic leaders have struggled to mobilize an opposition in Washington. Some voters appear to be looking to Sanders for an answer.

“He understands this moment,” Sanders adviser Faiz Shakir told The Washington Post. “There’s a muscularity in the way he wants to fight against them with a clear conviction of where we would go.”

“Look, I don’t have to tell anyone here that this is a difficult moment,” Sanders said. “We’ve never gone through anything like this, but this is what I do want to say. Despair is not an option. Giving up and hiding under the covers is not acceptable. The stakes are just too high.”

Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that Sanders’ progressive movement is about class solidarity.

“Hate is a trap that sticks us all, and standing together without exception to reject division — that is the only way we can win,” she said. “It’s the only way we can win. So I hope you see that this movement is not about partisan labels or purity tests, but it’s about class solidarity. It is about the thousands of you who came out here today to stand together and say, ‘Our lives deserve dignity and our work deserves respect, no matter who we are.’”

Sanders ended by appealing to people across the political spectrum to fight the oligarchy. 

“I’m not going to tell you that it’s going to be easy. It’s not,” Sanders said. “We’re going to have to fight them, door to door, workplace to workplace, school to school. We’re gonna have to educate, we’re gonna have to mobilize, we’re gonna have to stand up in a dozen different ways. But from the bottom of my heart — and I’ve been to every state in this country — I don’t care whether you’re Republican, Democrat, or Independent, the people of this country do not want oligarchy. They do not want authoritarianism, and they want a government that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent.”