On Saturday, the Los Angeles leg of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Fight Oligarchy speaking tour made a roar downtown, filling Gloria Molina Grand Park and backing up the steps of LA City Hall.
Clamoring for space, some guests sprawled upwards, climbing up trees or atop playground structures for a better view.
With free admission; no banners, signs, or bulky backpacks allowed; and militantly-placed fencing enclosing the audience, the Park was packed with 36,000 people in close, sun-baked proximity.
Backlogs of interested guests lined up well before 8 a.m. for the afternoon rally, including David Duncan, the president of Associated Students (A.S.) at Santa Monica College (SMC).
In the interim, preceding entertainers were wide-ranging, including folk stars Joan Baez and Neil Young, and congresspeople from several states; but the crowd commotion peaked at the main attraction.
Having waited five hours for the senator, cheers and hollers lasted a solid minute before the arrival of Sanders on stage.
All of Grand Park lit up and echoed with “Bernie, Bernie!”, calls which the 83-year-old senator immediately took to the mic to redress: “It’s not Bernie, it’s you!”
Though Sanders doesn’t plan to run for President again, this LA rally marked the largest audience he has ever attained, surpassing both of his Presidential bids in the past as well as a recent record-breaking night in Denver.
For the very first time, Sanders addressed 36,000 people, a number confirmed by both his team and Grand Park crew, with his own classic missives about Medicare for All and abolishing wealth inequality, as well as more temporal messaging against President Donald Trump and his senior advisor Elon Musk.
Sanders’ misgivings about the Trump administration “is precisely why we are here today, to make sure that government of, by and for the people does not perish, and that we do not become a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class.”
He added, “Your presence here today is making Donald Trump and Elon Musk very nervous.”
Oligarchy is defined as rule by a small select group, typically one of privilege, that uses its often material strength to supersede pre-existing authority structures, like democracy.
Fighting against oligarchy, Sanders said, has spanned his career, but until now, was never quite so potent.
Now, “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.”
Immediate impacts of Musk’s oligarchy, Sanders said, include dysfunction with the Social Security Administration, mass layoffs at the Veterans Administration, preparations to dismantle the Department of Education, and cutting the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), “which, by the way, means that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of the most desperate people in this world will die as a result.”
Though corporate interference might seem far removed from the day-to-day lives of working people, Sanders quoted former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “Economic rights are human rights.”
Sanders urged the overturning of Citizens United v Federal Election Commission (FEC), a controversial 2010 Supreme Court ruling that rescinded restrictions on corporations’ political spending, which Sanders feels has enabled corporate interests to buy elections.
Musk himself contributed over $270 million to Trump’s re-election, per FEC filings made December 2024.
Other Trump administration actions slandered by Sanders were Trump’s alleged infringing on free speech; overseeing mass detentions and deportations of immigrants; withholding Congressional funds from public institutions; imposing tariffs “that he has no legal right to do”; attempting to impeach judges who rule out of his favor; threatening universities and law firms on the basis of ideology; and souring relations with Ukraine.
Another hot-button topic was the Israel-Hamas war.
Sanders’ delay in calling for a ceasefire while simultaneously writing Senate resolutions on blocking Israeli military aid have drawn mixed responses from the Left since October 2023.
Peace and Freedom LA, an offshoot of the Peace and Freedom political party, planned a small demonstration outside the rally to protest what they called Sanders and co-headliner Rep. Alexandria “AOC” Ocasio-Cortez’s “liberal Zionism.”
At the podium, Sanders attempted to provide a clarified position on the subject: “Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism, but it does not have a right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people… to kill 50,000 people, injure over 100,000 and destroy the entire infrastructure.”
“And as bad as that is, Trump wants to expel the 2.2 million people in Gaza in order to create a playground for his billionaire friends,” Sanders added, referring to Trump’s proposal to “take ownership” of the Gaza strip.
“That is beyond insane, and we will never, never let that happen.”
Sanders also reasoned wage theft as why Republicanism entices some working people.
“You want to know why people all over this country are angry and in fact some of them end up voting for Trump?” he said.
“Today, if you can believe it, despite a huge increase in worker productivity, real inflation accounted-for wages are lower today than they were 52 years ago.
So workers are producing more and more, but all of what they produce, all of the benefits are going to the top 1%.”
At the same time, he said, the wealthy people – the oligarchs – have seen their bank balances skyrocket, with over $75 trillion transferred from the bottom economic 90% to the top 1% since 1975.
His labor demands, he said, include raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to “a living wage”; passing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) to facilitate forming unions; and stopping tax breaks for billionaires.
In addition, he proposed expanding Social Security; allocating funds for low-income and affordable housing; making public colleges and trade schools tuition-free; and, more vaguely, “transform(ing) our energy system and lead(ing) the world into a sustainable energy and energy-efficient country.”
Establishing single-payer healthcare, a hallmark of Sanders’ former campaigns, was once again addressed.
“We must do what every other major country on Earth does.
It ain’t radical. Healthcare is a human right,” he said.
Sanders is an independent who primarily votes with Democrats, but made clear their party isn’t immune from criticism: “It’s not just Musk and Republicans, it’s the Democratic Party as well… too many Democrats are listening to them.”
But when these programs are implemented, he said, to conclude his speech, “I do not care whether you’re a 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%.
Thank you all very much.”
Accompanying the speech from Sanders was Rep. Alexandria “AOC” Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who joined Sanders on the Fight Oligarchy trail in Las Vegas and frequently shared the stage with him since.
“We are here together because an extreme concentration of power, greed and corruption is taking over this country like never before – oligarchy in America.
And we must acknowledge the terrifying moment that we are in right now,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
She listed anti-LGBTQ targeting, unlawful detention and disappearing of immigrants, and internal market manipulation via tariffs as dire consequences of the Trump administration.
“Big money is how we got Donald Trump,” she said, but aside from him, Congress is also tarnished by oligarchy, in the forms of dark money, lobbying and corruption.
As examples, Ocasio-Cortez specifically named Californian congresspeople Daivd Valadeo, Young Kim and Ken Calvert, describing their House votes affirming cuts on Medicaid and Social Security as bought votes: “They are here to serve themselves and the billionaires who paid them – oligarchy.”
“Los Angeles, I’ve made my choice,” she said, denouncing the process for herself.
“We must fight the oligarchy that has created this nightmare.
And that is why I have never taken money from lobbyists or corporations… You know what, Los Angeles?
Because of your support, because of you all showing up, because I don’t have to take a dime in corporate money, you allow me to say no.”
Across both his campaigns for the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, crowd sizes peaked for Sanders at about 28,000 in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 9, 2015.
And on March 21, Sanders’ Fight Oligarchy crowd in Denver numbered 34,000 attendees, a record broken shortly thereafter.
Denver and LA were two anomalous stops of Sanders’ tour, initiated in February 2025, that mainly tackles cities in Republican districts, with the hopes of turning them Democrat in time for 2026 House elections.
Come voting season, Ocasio-Cortez advocated for replacing Valadeo, Kim and Calvert with “brawling Democrats who will stand for the working people of California.”
But since Denver and LA are unmistakably blue, the material objective of Sanders’ speaking engagements were less defined.
Onstage, Sanders said the stop in LA was an “obvious” choice:
“Why are we in LA today?
The answer is obvious: we are living in a moment of extraordinary danger.
And how we respond to this moment will not only impact our lives but will impact the lives of our kids and future generations and in terms of the climate, it will depend, we can depend on whether or not the planet Earth survives.
That’s why we’re here today.”
And because “too many Democrats” are capitulating to Republicans, Sanders said, relying on Democrats holding legislative office is not sufficient in combating the danger.
The overarching goal, stated in the rally’s directive and repeated ad infinitum by most all speakers, was building opposition to oligarchy and corporatocracy from the ground up.
The senator’s website advertises “real discussions” at these rallies about “how we move forward to take on the Oligarchs.”
Some speakers offered advice on how rallygoers could contribute to this endeavour.
Several of them encouraged the audience to join activist organizations, register with labor unions, and push legislative representatives on individual matters by contacting them directly.
Others advised the massive crowd, more ambiguously, to “resist.”
“Beyond elections, LA, our goal is to build community: block associations, volunteer groups, church organizations, PTAs, activist organizations, because community is the most powerful building block we have to defeat authoritarianism and root out corruption,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
Interspersed with music performances, speakers touched on LA-specific issues, including wildfire relief efforts; physical and mental tolls on Hollywood production assistants; allotting city money to police, jails and militia; and the recent five-day hunger strike by mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente.
Another bit of recent LA news was addressed by special guests from the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) labor union.
Georgia Flowers-Lee, special education teacher at a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) elementary school and vice president of the National Education Association (NEA) branch of UTLA, shared the stage with Julie Van Winkle, eighth-grade math teacher and vice president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) branch of UTLA, to speak on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers who engaged in federal immigration enforcement in two LAUSD elementary schools last week.
These federal officers were the first to attempt enforcement in public schools in Los Angeles since Trump greenlighted immigration agencies to enter “sensitive areas” like schools and hospitals in January.
LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho confirmed the officers were seeking students.
“The uncertainty is destabilizing for our communities,” said Flowers-Lee.
However, in both cases, the officers were denied entry by school administrators.
“We’re learning from our students.
We cannot passively comply with the Trump agenda.
As a teacher, I recognize what Trump and his oligarch buddies are.
They’re bullies,” said Flowers-Lee.
“They target the most marginalized in our community.”
Van Winkle chimed in, “We hate these bullies.
We hate these oligarchs that are trying to privatize our public schools and public institutions.
How many of you hate these billionaire privatizers?”
A cheer of affirmation deafened.
“I’m glad we all agree on that.
But it’s not enough to just hate them.
More important than hating our adversaries is loving our communities and our city.”
The musical lineup, likened by headliner Maggie Rogers as “Berniechella,” included the Raise Gospel Choir, the Red Pairs, Jeff Rosenstock, Indigo de Souza, and the Dirty Projectors, as well as headlining acts Baez, Young and Rogers.
The latter group performed both individual sets and songs in duo and trio, including Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” to intro Ocasio-Cortez.
Sanders explained Berniechella: “It’s not just to entertain you, it’s more than that.
We’re going to make our revolution with joy.
We’re going to sing and dance our way to victory against hatred and divisiveness.”
“I think it’s cool to see more mainstream artists also joining,” said Stephen Baker, a 23-year-old who has supported Sanders since high school.
But also, he said, “I think it’s important that we’re out here seeing Democrats who are actually doing something about what’s going on.”
Unions who addressed the crowd onstage included UNITE-HERE Local 11, hospitality workers; LiUNA! Local 724, film and television workers from Hollywood; ILWU Local 13, longshoremen; California Nurses Association (CNA); National Nurses United (NNU); National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), Kaiser Permanente nurses; UTLA; United Auto Workers Region 6; California Labor Federation of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Other significant union cadres in the audience were the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE), representing University of California employees; and more Kaiser Permanente workers of various affiliations bearing “Kaiser: End the Inequity” T-shirts.
“Today we pledge with our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement, we are gonna grow the movement!
Millions of workers want to join unions because they know they’re gonna get better wages, better benefits, better working conditions.
Let’s do it!” said Sanders.
Though the speaking was done by union leaders or representatives, each speaker was joined by large swaths of their fellow union members onstage.
CNA president Sandy Reding and her associates paused their speaking engagement to step into the audience and administer first aid to someone who collapsed from heat exhaustion, one of several instances of heat-related medical emergencies on that sweltering day.
Duncan, nearing completion of a full year in office as AS president, was attending the rally with friends, and noticed a significant prevalence of Corsairs: “I keep running into people… there’s a whole bunch of SMC students.”
“I really appreciate what Bernie and AOC are doing, especially right now, when so many people in my community at SMC are under threat from the current administration, and supporting more communities is important,” Duncan said.
“Immigrant community, LGBT community, just everyone.”
“I really appreciate them coming out here to talk to us,” he said.
The audiences, stripped of banner-waving abilities, had to express their individual tastes in other ways.
Some guests repped political bands, including Bad Brains; blue energy dome hats from new wave band Devo; and a visual monopoly of Rage Against the Machine T-shirts with Sanders’ photograph, which were peddled outside the rally.
Close quarters at the park were shared by wheelchair users, full-blown goths, and, notably, people with Kamala Harris paraphernalia.
In the past two months, Fight Oligarchy rallies have drawn national attention for bringing together left-wingers of different faiths, uniting diehard Bernie bros with more mainstream Democrat supporters, even those who would have contended with Sanders’ progressive viewpoints in previous years.
“As a Bernie supporter, especially, when I was younger, I always had a lot of beef with Hillary supporters,” said Baker.
“So it’s nice to see them come on to the right side of history and recognize that Democrats need to actually fight, they can’t just sit back and take it.”
Fight Oligarchy travelled to Idaho for a rally in Nampa on April 14 and returned to California for rallies on April 15 in Folsom and in Bakersfield.
The final stop, so far, is scheduled for April 16 in Missoula, Montana.
image source from：https://www.thecorsaironline.com/corsair/2025/4/16/inside-fight-oligarchy-la-largest-bernie-sanders-rally-of-all-time-1
