Leading the rage and frustration of progressive Californians, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders told tens of thousands of people in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday that the country is in a moment of “extraordinary danger.”
Covered in a blue button-down shirt and Dodgers baseball cap, Sanders, 83, says President Trump is “quickly heading towards an authoritarian-style society,” burning crowds that stretch from Grand Park to city hall stairs, heading towards the surrounding streets.
“Mr. Trump,” Sanders said, “We’re not going there.”
The hourly event featured a long lineup of progressive elected officials, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) and Neil Young, Joan Beth and singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, as well as Labour leaders and musicians.
Sanders’ team said the Los Angeles rally attracted 36,000 people, the largest in his history.
“There’s no need to tell anyone here that this is a difficult moment in our country’s modern history,” Sanders said. “We have never experienced anything like this, but… despair is not an option, and it is unacceptable to give up and hide under the cover.
An estimated 36,000 people will be taking part in the Fighting Oligarchy Rally, held at Gloria Morina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Trump and his allies are looking at the size of the rally, Sanders said, and “You’re scaring hell from them.”
With the exception of Los Angeles and Denver, Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tours have largely stopped in areas represented by Republican lawmakers, who Democrats hope to banish them in the 2026 election. The tour began in Omaha in late February and also stopped in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado.
Sanders said he employs organizers in several districts, including Iowa and Nebraska.
Sanders hasn’t changed his story points much since the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential nomination campaign. However, his classics have found new resonances with Democrats who are angry by the second Trump administration about the power of “billionaires and billionaires” and 1% wealth.
Billionaire Elon Musk is trying to promote the federal government through his government efficiency, end contracts, fire workers, and dismantle and eliminate agencies and departments.
At Trump’s January inauguration, Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook had better seats than his cabinet picks.
Sanders’ rally comes as Democrats’ popularity continues to settle. One CNN poll conducted in early March found that the party’s popularity was a record low of 33% to 29% in January, driven primarily by frustrated Democrats.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is waving to the cheering crowd as he sets the stage at the Fighting Oligarchy Rally at Gloria Morina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“Everyone was disappointed, not even what we were thinking,” said Lisa Picchon Getzels, 70, of Tarzana. She and her husband Morris Getzels, 73, “resist hatred,” wearing a black T-shirt with a red slash on Trump’s face and slogan.
Both retired Getzel and Picchon Getzel said they were using their free time to mobilize elected officials and their neighbors by sending emails, making calls, writing postcards and attending marches.
“Trump has to be stopped, and Democrats have to do that.
Sanders, a politically independent conspiring with Senate Democrats, said in an interview that Democrats held a small majority in the House two years before Trump was re-election, but achieved “virtually nothing.”
“Too many times, Democrats come across as the current party,” Sanders said. “They are not ready to take on the corporate system and the Olihead that are causing so much pain in this country.”
Saturday’s rally had a festival vibe. Content creators pulled participants aside for a Man-on-the-Street video interview. Some use small microphones that are popular in Tiktok. The crowd was a gallery of t-shirts and hats from the 2016 and 2020 Bernie Campaign, Healthcare, Hollywood and union representing the construction workers.
Many of the audience also began to listen to Ocasio-Cortez, 35.
Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd that the “toxic fear and division” he felt on social media was the struggle to pay everyday expenses “a logical and inevitable conclusion of the American political system dominated by businesses and dark money.”
“This all means being ruled by a billionaire, and how that feels,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “This is something that Olivia can feel, and we can only get worse until we act.”
Theresa Win Rose of Thousand Oaks arrived downtown at 6am and secured a spot in front of the crowd along with her 20-year-old daughter Zoe.
About 20 feet from the podium, the two women waited for hours for musical performances and speeches by prominent progressive officials, including Los Angeles City Councillors Eunisses Hernandez and Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) and Maxwell Frost (D-Florida).
“Berney has been a fighter since he first got caught up in politics,” said Wynne-Rose, who works at Planned Parenthood. She said she hopes more Democrats will take more visible anti-Trump actions, like Sen. Cory Booker (DN.J.), who broke Senate records this month by speaking against the Trump administration for 25 hours and five minutes.
“If I finally have kids in this hellish world, I want to tell you I’m here,” Zoe said.
The Sanders Tour inspired others. Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz launched his own Town Hall series, with California Democrats, including Canna and Rep. Robert Garcia (D. Long Beach), hosting their own events in the Red District.
After stopping in Utah and Idaho on Sunday and Monday, Sanders will return to California on Tuesday to an afternoon rally in Bakersfield and an evening event in Folsom near Sacramento.
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