SALT LAKE CITY-“You don’t need leaders, you need a mass movement of millions of people,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to over 20,000 Utahns on April 13, 2025. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) spoke Sunday evening at the University of Utah as part of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
Speaking on religious values, wealth inequalities, medical access, election funding, climate change, America’s housing crisis and more, Sanders urged the attendees to “stand up together” to “defeat authoritarianism” and “build a new America.”
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are traveling around the country to discuss billionaire involvement in politics, specifically in the Trump administration. During his speech, Sanders noted how the three richest men in America, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, got front-row seats during Trump’s Jan 20 inauguration.
According to Sanders, the U.S. government has become an oligarchy, a form of government that gives power to a small amount of people.
Appealing to George Washington and America’s Founding Fathers, Sanders praised America’s core values of separation of powers, checks and balances and the rule of law.
Sanders expressed concerns about the Trump administration’s centralization of power, stating that it is “taking power away” from Congress and the Supreme Court. “We are living in a moment with a president who has no understanding or respect for the Constitution of the United States, and let us make no doubt about it, moving us rapidly toward an authoritarian form of society.”
Sanders, the longest-running independent in U.S. congressional history, also attacked the political corruption in the Democratic party. “Billionaires make huge contributions, and there is a reason why: for too many years and for too many candidates, Democrats have not had the guts to take on powerful special interests.”
Sanders also mentioned Trump’s lawsuits against major news sources, including CBS, ABC and Meta. “If you cannot take criticism, get out of the political process. This is democracy and criticism is an essential part of that democracy.”
Sanders says that he’s fighting for a government that represents the working class, calling for fair taxation, higher minimum wages, affordable education and expanded social security.
Utah’s Turnout
During Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s speech, she argued that the “working class” crowd members are “more qualified” than most in Congress, appealing to her own experience during the 2008 financial crisis. She said that after her father’s death from cancer, she worked as a waitress to support her immigrant mother.
“That is the story that Republicans tell…when they say a waitress or a working person is unqualified to serve in Congress,” she said. “But the truth is, many of us are far more qualified to understand what real life is actually like than any of them ever will.”
Sanders urged Utahns in the audience to follow Ocasio-Cortez’s footsteps and get involved in politics and grassroots activism. “We are going to need people to go outside of their comfort zone,” he said. In response to AOC’s standing ovation and massive crowd support, Sanders urged the crowd to believe in their own capabilities: “It’s not AOC and it’s not Bernie, it is you.”
The day before, on Sat. April 12, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez rallied with a record-breaking 36,000 Los Angeles residents against wealth inequality. During Sanders’ opening remarks in Salt Lake City, he thanked the Utah crowd, stating that “in many ways, the 20,000 we have out today is more impressive.”
Sanders will be traveling to Idaho, Montana and California later this week in continuation of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Watch Utah’s rally in full:
FIGHT THE OLIGARCHY WITH BERNIE AND AOC: SALT LAKE CITY – YouTube
