A Utah audience of thousands, some dressed in years-old Bernie Sanders for President merchandise, crammed into the Huntsman Center at the University of Utah to listen to some of the most progressive members of Congress, who in many ways are the ideological opposites of their own representatives.
“We are living in the most dangerous moment in the modern history of this country,” Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said, explaining why he is criss-crossing the country holding rallies in the early months of a non-election year.
The “Fighting the Oligarchy” tour has taken place over the weeks since President Donald Trump took office. At Trump’s inauguration, Sanders has pointed out, the three richest people in the world — Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — sat behind the president.
In reliably red Utah, Trump beat then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, by more than 20 percentage points.
During his Sunday speech, Sanders, who is Jewish, referenced Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in which he told followers to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
“I know that in Utah … there are millions of people who believe that,” Sanders said. But Trump and wealthy supporters, he alleged, have not adhered to that sermon, pointing to a variety of policies — including moves that restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people and immigrants, as well as what he said is an absence of action to support lower and middle class Americans.
Sanders took the stage to piercing cheers and an ovation Sunday, as did the younger Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York — a possible presidential candidate in 2028.
While introducing Sanders, she took a jab at Utah’s six GOP members of Congress for voting to approve a Republican funding bill that Democrats say will lead to more profits for Musk’s companies. The Tesla and SpaceX executive spent hundreds of millions toward getting Trump elected last year.
Musk, who was brought on by Trump to head what he has named a “Department of Government Efficiency,” or D.O.G.E., enjoys a close relationship with Sen. Mike Lee, the senior member of Utah’s federal delegation.
Sanders urged Utahns at the event to follow in the footsteps of Ocasio-Cortez, once a waitress, and get involved in politics and grassroots organizing, like professional ski mountaineer and environmental activist Caroline Gleich. Last year, Gleich ran for Utah’s open seat in the U.S. Senate and lost to Republican Sen. John Curtis.
Pointing to recent book and pride flag bans, as well as a move to remove public unions’ ability to bargain collectively, which unions are seeking to overturn, Gleich told the crowd, “I ran because I saw our state and country going backwards.”
The 15,000-seat arena at the University of Utah was almost entirely filled by the time Sanders took the stage, with more spectators packed onto the floor. As the audience waited, they broke out in chants of “tax the rich,” and “Bernie.”
According to Sanders’ campaign staff, official attendance for the event was around 20,000, including about 4,000 people watching from an overflow space. The number was reportedly verified by the special functions lieutenant for the university’s police department.
Among progressives in Utah, Sanders has historically had a broad base of support. When he ran for president in 2016, he easily won Utah’s Democratic caucus over eventual nominee Hillary Clinton with nearly 80% of the vote. In 2020, Sanders beat President Joe Biden in the Utah primary with double the backing.
Ahead of the rally, lines snaked through the university campus. People standing near the entrance of the Huntsman Center Sunday afternoon said they arrived around 8:30 that morning — seven hours before the doors were scheduled to open.
Trucks with Trump flags hanging off the back and out the window drove past, honking at the processions of people on the sidewalks. A few other Trump supporters stood outside the Huntsman Center holding “Make America Great Again” flags and an artificial intelligence-generated image of Trump and Musk dressed as Robin Hood.
After attending church Sunday morning, Eliza and Harrison Hemstreet changed their clothes and drove to the University of Utah’s campus to line up for the rally.
The couple, who met at Brigham Young University, are expecting their first child next week. While the Hemstreets identified themselves as liberals who have overall concerns about the direction the government is going, access to reproductive health care was top of mind Sunday.
“I’ve had a previous miscarriage and have experienced repercussions from the reversal of Roe v. Wade that were really damaging,” Eliza said. “Now I think we’re at a good place, but it’s still scary to not know what interventions would be available if I needed them.”
The U.S. Air Force brought 74-year-old Lydia Jorn’s family to Utah in 1965, she said. Jorn voted for Sanders in the 2016 and 2020 primaries, and said she “couldn’t wait” when Sanders announced the Utah event.
“I’m female, I’m Hispanic and I’m over 70,” Jorn said, “and I feel as if all of our rights are being considered to be taken away, and they’re tampered with. And we’ve worked too hard as a nation for them to step back.”
Wearing a hat with the Mexican flag and a button that said “Gulf of Mexico” (a reference to Trump’s attempt to rename the inlet “Gulf of America”), Jorn said the new administration has made her feel scared for her safety because of her identity.
Jorn currently lives in Millcreek, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a Hispanic man who is a U.S. citizen after a traffic stop — the city’s mayor accused the agents of acting illegally in the process.
“I’m brown,” Jorn added, “so I carry my birth certificate everywhere I go.”
Utah State University student Alexa Hoggan spent the weekend in Salt Lake City. On Saturday, she saw the first openly transgender member of Congress — Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Delaware — speak at a fundraiser for the Salt Lake County Democratic Party.
Hoggan, who is also transgender, said she joined the crowd at the Huntsman Center hoping that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez would reassure her that they are working to protect the safety of her and other vulnerable Americans.
On the same day he was inaugurated, Trump began issuing executive orders meant to limit transgender people’s ability to live openly and access health care. And Utah has, for four consecutive years, passed laws limiting its transgender residents’ rights.
Among them is a ban on transgender students at public colleges from living in dorms that align with their gender identity, the result of a conflict at USU, where Hoggan attends university. A parent posted on social media about her daughter’s request to transfer dorm rooms after she was assigned a suite with a transgender student who worked as a resident advisor, enraging conservative groups in the state.
“This country is seeming like not the country I grew up in,” Hoggan said. “So I want to see change for the better.
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