Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a “Fight the Oligarchy” rally Monday night in Nampa, where they leveled a series of attacks against President Donald Trump and billionaire tech leaders, accusing them of corrupting American democracy through wealth and influence, as Fox News reported.
Speaking to a packed crowd, Sanders compared prominent billionaires, including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, to “heroin addicts” whose addiction is greed.
“These guys, these oligarchs, have a major, major addiction problem. And you know what it is? It is greed. They’re like heroin addicts. They can’t control themselves. They need more and more, and they do not care who they step over in order to get another billion dollars.”
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The Vermont senator singled out Musk, Bezos, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg as symbolic of what he called the modern-day oligarchy.
He also referenced President Trump’s inauguration, stating:
“When Trump got inaugurated, sitting right behind them were the three wealthiest people in this country: Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg.”
Sanders claimed that both political parties include billionaire elites, but focused his remarks on what he characterized as the rise of a billionaire class aligned with Trump.
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He also referenced “13 other billionaires who Trump had nominated” to his cabinet, criticizing what he framed as a system designed to benefit the wealthy at the expense of the public.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez echoed Sanders’ rhetoric, declaring that the current state of governance in the United States reflects “what it feels like to be governed by billionaires.” She added:
“This concentration of power, greed and corruption is oligarchy. It’s oligarchy in America, and we must acknowledge the terrifying moment that we are in right now.”
Both lawmakers called for political mobilization, urging the public to push back against what they described as authoritarianism fueled by wealth and corporate interests.
“It will never be just institutions and politicians and officials alone that uphold our democracy. It will always be the people, the masses, who refuse to comply with authoritarian regimes, who are the last and strongest defense of our country and our freedoms. It is you. It is you Idaho,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Sanders concluded his remarks by framing the rally as part of a broader movement to challenge the influence of wealth in politics.
“We are here today because we choose democracy, we choose freedom, we choose justice. And that means we must choose to out-organize the oligarchy. We must do away with the power of big money.”
The event, held in a deep-red state, appeared to be part of a progressive push to expand the left’s message beyond coastal strongholds and into rural communities.
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