Bernie Sanders rally in LA draws thousands to protest Trump: ‘We can't just let this happen'

The Guardian

13-04-2025

The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders drew a record-breaking crowd at his rally in Los Angeles on Saturday, which included musical acts from Joan Baez and Neil Young, who encouraged the crowd to 'take America back'.
Sanders's Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go from Here tour has been drawing massive crowds. Aided by the progressive New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the team set the record in Tempe, Arizona, for biggest-ever political rally in that state three weeks ago. In Denver, Colorado, more than 34,000 people showed up – a career-high crowd for the 83-year-old Sanders. Saturday in Los Angeles saw another record: at least 36,000 people packed a downtown park.
A host of musical acts kicked off the high-energy event, including the indie rock band The Red Pears, Maggie Rogers, Indigo de Souza, and legends Baez and Young.
On a perfect LA day with a gentle breeze and blue sky, Young, wearing all black, performed for the crowd before introducing Ocasio-Cortez, who was met with the wild applause usually reserved for a rock star.
Ocasio-Cortez, 35, told the crowd at Gloria Molina Grand Park – a space named after the trailblazing Angeleno often credited for paving the way for women and Latinos in LA politics – that 'power, greed and corruption are taking over our country like never before'. She named some California lawmakers who have supported recent Trump policies, including Bakersfield representative David Valadao and representative Young Kim of Orange county.
The Raise gospel choir sang out 'power to the people', and Sanders took the stage. 'We are living in a moment where the Republican party to a large degree has become a cult of the individual, obeying Trump's every wish,' Sanders told the crowd, adding that the Trump administration is now 'plotting how they can give $1.1tn in tax breaks to the rich'.
The politician's critique of the administration – and the corrupting influence of big money and billionaires in US politics – lasted more than 40 minutes. The message has taken on a new resonance in the second Trump administration, as Americans have watched Elon Musk take a chainsaw to the federal government and threatening popular safety-net programs like social security and Medicare.
These are the issues that brought out Cindy and Victor Villanuevo. Cindy has battled multiple sclerosis for the past decade. 'I'm here because I'm disgusted about what Trump is doing to science. It's a disgrace. When you cut funding, there's no hope for any of us,' said the Buena Park mother.
Her sister, Rose Matthews, a retired teacher, is concerned about social security, for people who work at veterans' affairs and for veterans' benefits. 'I know the folks at the Long Beach VA very well because my husband battled ALS for four years,' she said. 'The work they do with the vets is incredible and much needed. Now I'm worried that's going away. We can't just let this happen.'
Ali Wolff and Myylo Lewis took the 94 bus from Silver Lake to attend. They said the bus had been packed with Bernie supporters – and it felt good.
'It's terrifying what's been happening,' said Wolff. 'It's a relief just being here with so many like-minded people.'
Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie are the 'closest thing to a version of America you actually want to live in', said Lewis.
Sanders, an independent who votes with Democrats, launched the tour in late February, offering Democratic voters an outlet for their fury and grief at a moment when most of their leaders in Washington appeared disoriented by the speed of Trump's second-term power grabs. The Vermont senator has held events in big cities like Denver and Phoenix, while also targeting Republican-held districts that voted for Joe Biden in 2020, as Democrats contemplate a path back to power in 2026.
Ocasio-Cortez joined Sanders for part of his tour last month, raising questions about her political aspirations and the future of the progressive movement he has been building since before she was born. On the stage in Los Angeles, progressive congressmembers Pramila Jayapal of Washington state and Ro Khanna of California, as well as many union leaders representing teachers, nurses, longshoremen and healthcare workers all addressed the crowd. Eunissess Hernandez, who represents LA's first city council district, gave a particularly powerful address, saying the Trump administration was trying to divide people and get them to blame each other for their problems instead of blaming the people who are 'actually profiting from our pain'.
Sanders's western tour will continue with stops in Utah, Idaho and Montana. The tour will return to California on Tuesday for events in Folsom and Bakersfield, a Republican stronghold, which has one of the highest levels of Medi-Cal enrollments in the state. The agricultural community, which is in Kern county, was also the locale of a January immigration raid that resulted in 78 arrests many contend were a result of shocking and unlawful racial profiling. Sanders railed against the raid, describing it as the US government 'disappearing people'.