The ground shook in Downtown Los Angeles this weekend as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unleashed a verbal barrage that left Donald Trump’s gilded reputation in tatters.
It was a seismic event that drew 36,000 attendees, transforming the park into a roaring sea of progressives who’d clearly had enough of billionaire-friendly policies. When was the last time you saw 36,000 people show up for anything political that didn’t involve Taylor Swift? (And no, despite what Elon Musk might tweet, they weren’t paid to be there.)
Amazing how every Trump rally gets wall-to-wall coverage — but when 36,000 people show up to protest him with Bernie and AOC, it barely makes a headline.
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) April 12, 2025
We get endless diner stories about ‘forgotten’ Trump voters. Where are the stories of Americans left behind by the GOP? pic.twitter.com/EyPQ25qtXZ
The event, part of Sanders and AOC’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, was the progressive movement at its most unapologetic. Sanders delivered his signature righteous indignation, calling out Trump’s “tariff shuffle” as a scheme to help his billionaire cronies cash in while ordinary Americans watched their savings take a nosedive. AOC, meanwhile, took the gloves off and went straight for the jugular, calling Trump a “criminal” and accusing him of meddling with the stock market. She accused him of tanking markets one day, tipping off his billionaire buddies to “buy the dip,” and then reversing course the next day to send stocks soaring.
It’s the kind of move that makes you wonder if Trump thinks “insider trading” is just another perk of being president. And even if it’s not true, the fact that it’s plausible says a lot about where we are as a country. The New York congresswoman hit particularly hard when discussing what she called the “terrifying” current political climate. “We are watching our neighbors, students, and friends being fired, targeted, and disappeared,” she said, highlighting cases of activists being detained without charges.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez both framed the fight against oligarchy as a moral and existential battle. Sanders described billionaires as “very religious people,” but not in the way one might think. “Their religion is greed,” he said. “Greed, greed, and more greed. That’s what drives them. And they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their wealth, even if it means wrecking the planet, destroying the economy, and leaving millions behind.”
Whether you love Sanders and AOC or hate them, you can’t deny that they’ve tapped into something real. Something powerful. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t just about Trump or tariffs or even billionaires. It’s about a fundamental question: what kind of country do we want to be? If Sanders and AOC have their way, it’s a country where greed doesn’t get to call the shots. And judging by the crowd in Los Angeles, a lot of people seem to agree.
Published: Apr 13, 2025 08:58 am