LOS ANGELES — Tens of thousands of people gathered at Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles Saturday to hear Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez headline a rally assailing Trump administration policies and income inequality.
Sanders, I-Vermont, has dubbed the nationwide campaign the Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here tour. Along with Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, they have railed against President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, a top adviser to Trump and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, and criticized a variety of government policies on immigration, spending and other issues.
"It's not 'Bernie,' it's you!" Sanders told the crowd, who greeted his arrival on stage with familiar chants of "Bernie! Bernie!"
"We're going to make our revolution with joy! We're going to sing and dance our away to victory against hatred and divisiveness," Sanders said, telling the crowd, "Your presence here today is making Donald Trump and Elon Musk very nervous."
"We're living in a moment where a handful of billionaires control the economic and political life of our country ... with a president who has no understanding for the Constitution of the United States," the 83-year-old senator charged.
"All over this country, in Vermont, California, all over this country, we have a serious problem with drug addiction, with alcoholism, with other forms of addiction. But in my honest opinion, the most serious addiction crisis we face is the addiction of the oligarchy toward greed. They've got billions and billions of dollars (and) it's not enough: They need more. And if they have to step on the poor and the disabled and working-class people, that is what they will do unless we stop them and we will stop them," he said.
Contrasting the gains made by Blacks, women and the gay community in the United States since the 1960s, Sanders argued that economic discrimination remained largely unaddressed, insisting that "economic rights are human rights."
Ocasio-Cortez criticized many elements of Trump's crackdown on immigration and cited what she called two recent attempts by federal immigration officials to enter Los Angeles Unified campuses "to target schools."
She praised school staff and employees "who spoke up when they felt something was off. And it was the teachers and principals as that stood strong and said `No' to protect their kids when it could have been easier to say yes out of fear. You defended them LA, because it will never be just institution and officials alone that uphold our democracy. It will always be the people, the masses who refuse to comply with authoritarian regimes."
The rally began Saturday morning with speeches by elected officials and union leaders interspersed with musical performances by legendary singer- songwriters Joan Baez and Neil Young, along with Indigo de Souza, The Red Pears, Raise Gospel Choir, Jeff Rosenstock and Maggie Rogers.
"We are here today because we are living in dangerous times. We are watching our country descend into a fascist oligarchy right before our eyes," Los Angeles Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez said. "Our right to free speech, our right to our own bodies, our entire futures — all of it is under attack.
"But I need you to get something straight: This didn't happen overnight. If you think Trump and Elon just snapped their fingers and started destroying our Democracy, I need you to wake up," she continued. "They didn't break the system: They're operating it exactly as it was designed. This administration and the chaos they've unleashed are the product of decades of policies that protect corporate profits over people."
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D- Washington, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-San Francisco, also addressed the crowd.
The Los Angeles Police Department's Central Division advised the public to expect traffic delays in the Civic Center and said Spring Street would be closed between Temple and First streets.
