Bernie Sanders might have found his ultimate supervillain in billionaire Elon Musk as the Vermont senator launched a nationwide ‘fighting oligarchy’ tour in Nebraska, with his supporters ‘feeling the bern.’
The 83-year-old progressive and former presidential candidate made a rallying cry on Friday evening, cautioning that the actions taken now will not only impact future generations but also the planet.
‘Trumpism cannot be defeated by politicians within the DC beltway. It’s not going to happen that way. It will be overcome by millions of Americans in Nebraska, Iowa, Vermont,’ Sanders declared.
He said they need to come together at the grassroots level ‘in a movement which says no to oligarchy, no to authoritarianism, no to kleptocracy, no to massive cuts in programs that the working class desperately needs.’
Sanders spoke before a packed room in downtown Omaha with more fans waiting in the overflow outside.
His base is fired up about the whirlwind first month of President Trump’s second term and activities of Musk, as the world’s wealthiest man and his DOGE team slash the U.S. government.
Sanders supporters were outraged by what is happening in Washington and had no problems voicing their frustrations. They screamed their support at times and even teared up at other moments as they nodded along to his remarks.
While Trump was a target of much of the wrath receiving boos and one person even yelling ‘fascist,’ there were also were shouts of ‘fire Elon,’ ‘Tesla sucks’ and ‘Elon’s a Nazi.’
‘This country today under Trump faces a series of crises unprecedented in our modern history, and what we do now will impact not only our lives, but the lives of our kids, grandchildren, future generations and whether the planet itself survives,’ Sanders said.
The senator will hold a second event in Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday as he hits the road to discuss how Americans can fight back against Trump and Musk.Â
He vowed to take his message to every corner of the country.
‘We are rapidly moving toward an oligarchy form of society in which a handful of multi-billionaires not only have extraordinary, extraordinary wealth but unprecedented economic, media and political power,’ Sanders said as the crowd booed.
The senator spoke of Trump’s inauguration and how the three wealthiest people in the country, Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, were sitting right behind the president as he was sworn in. He also noted Trump’s billionaire Cabinet nominees in the third row.
Sanders has long raged against billionaires, but with his latest tour, he now has an image to point to of the richest men sitting behind the president in Washington as the senator talks about the struggles of the working class.
‘Democracy is not about billionaires buying elections. It’s about one person, one vote,’ Sanders said, referencing that Musk spent $270 million to help get Trump elected.
‘When we are taking on Trumpism, we are taking on oligarchy,’ he declared.
The progressive senator invoked moments throughout history where people have risen up to enact change from the American Revolution, the fight for Universal suffrage to the Civil Rights Movement and ending segregation and more.
‘We can defeat them. I know how much money they have. I know their ownership of the people. I know they can buy and sell politicians. I know all of that,’ Sanders said.
‘But this I also know, that when we stand together and not let them divide us up… we can defeat them, and we must defeat them,’ he declared.
The senator urged people to call their lawmakers and directed people to his website to get their numbers.Â
Sanders claimed that lawmakers are influenced by their donors but said people need to force them to pay attention to their constituents who won’t send them back to Washington unless they do.Â
He specifically name dropped GOP Congressman Don Bacon who represents Omaha.
The Vermont senator and former presidential candidate is targeting working class districts won by President Biden in 2020 and Republican House members in 2024 with the tour.
Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, which includes Omaha and its suburbs, voted for Biden by nearly six points in 2020. Kamala Harris also won the district in 2024 but by a narrower margin.
However, it has been represented by Bacon since 2017, who recently won reelection in 2024 by less than two points.
The race for the seat is considered one of the biggest toss-ups in next year’s midterms and could help decide the fate of the House as Republicans currently cling to a razor-thin majority in Congress.
At one point, Sanders quoted President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. As he quoted about a government for the people, by the people, his supporters also chimed in to recite the famous lines.
The Vermont senator blasted Trump’s recent social media post where he wrote he who saves his country does not violate any law.
Sanders argued that the president believes ‘he can do anything he wants to do. The law does not apply to him.’
‘That is how he has been behaving, in violation of the Constitution and federal laws,’ he said as his supporters groaned.
He also slammed the president for attacking the First Amendment for his criticism of the media and blasted Trump’s recently calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a ‘dictator.’
‘Everybody in the world knows that Putin started the war except Donald Trump,’ Sanders said.Â
Sanders has had a huge grassroots following ever since he ran for president in 2016. The crowd remained engaged throughout the speech as some people sported Sanders gear from his first presidential bid.Â
Others held up blue dots as Omaha is a known blue dot in an otherwise red state.Â
At one point someone accidentally hit a light switch, momentarily plunging the room into darkness, but Sanders laughed it off and kept going.
