A crowd of roughly 35,000 people gathered at Gloria Molina Park in Downtown Los Angeles to hear Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on April 12.
During the “Fighting Oligarchy” rally campaign, Senator Sanders had spoken strongly against President Donald Trump and Special Government Employee Elon Musk’s policies on immigration, the economy and other issues.
“Let me tell you something about the oligarchs; they are religious, but their religion is greed… 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. Bezos, and Mr. Zuckerberg, and right behind them were thirteen other billionaires who Trump nominated to head up major federal agencies and that, brothers and sisters, is what oligarchy is all about,” Sanders said.
Sen. Sanders’ core message remained unchanged from his presidential campaign in 2016, as he pointed out the fast growing concentration of wealth among the 1%, with his claims having gained more traction since the start of President Trump’s second administration.
The event featured U.S. Representatives Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Jimmy Gomez, Maxwell Frost, community leaders and laborers who have served as pillars of the LA community.
“Fighting Oligarchy” featured a stage similar to one expected in a music festival.
Many musicians such as Grammy award winner Neil Young, Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers performed in the guest speakers appearances.
“They’ve got a simple plan: defund, defraud and lie, they’re gonna defund social security, defund Medicaid, defund education, defund science, defund anything that helps the man and woman who’s trying to get by to put food on the table… we are a new generation, we are the f— around and find out generation,” Gomez said.
“The destruction of our rights and democracy is directly tied to the growing extreme wealth inequality that has been building for years in America…Donald Trump is not an aberration, he is the logical, inevitable conclusion of an American political system dominated by political greed and dark money,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Ocasio-Cortez criticized many of President Trump’s political stances and especially narrowed down on Trump’s immigration laws and described them as barbaric.
Ocasio-Cortez also mentioned accounts of immigrants being disappeared by government agents dressed as civilians in vans.
After his LA rally Senator Sanders’ rally headed to Salt Lake City on April 13, Nampa on April 14, two stops in California, Folsom and Bakersfield on April 15 and his last stop in Missoula, on April 16.