Sisters and Brothers:
Under the oligarchic and authoritarian regime of Donald Trump, we find ourselves living in an unprecedented moment in modern American history. As a result, we’ve got to respond in an unprecedented way.
And we’re beginning to do it.
Yesterday afternoon, Alexandria, Ocasio-Cortez and I completed the latest swing in our Fighting Oligarchy Tour. There were seven events in five days, and the turnouts were unbelievable. In total, nearly 150,000 people turned out from "blue" Los Angeles to "red" Idaho … a state Trump won with almost 70 percent of the vote.
Sisters and Brothers: it may just be possible that this country is on the brink of a political revolution that is long overdue and that, finally, we move toward a government and an economy that works for all of us – and not just the billionaire class. This struggle won’t be easy, but we’re making progress.
All across America, I am seeing people who are hungry for an understanding of what is going on in this country, how we are going to take on Trumpism, and what we must do to transform our society.
Here is what I’ve seen over the last five days:
And let’s be clear. These turnouts are getting Republicans nervous. Elon Musk says our attendees are “paid organizers," and Trump boasts, falsely, that only a couple thousand people are attending and that his turnouts are always larger than ours.
Just this week, four Republican members of Congress representing districts where we have held rallies signed a letter to Speaker Johnson opposing significant cuts to Medicaid. The letter didn’t go as far as we would like – which is ABSOLUTELY NO CUTS TO MEDICAID – but it’s a start. And keep in mind, it does not take many Republicans to stop the House from passing Medicaid cuts. Four is enough.
But needless to say, a few large rallies are not going to be nearly enough to stop what Trump, Musk and right-wing extremist Republicans are doing to this country.
What is most important is what happens AFTER these rallies are finished, and that is what I want to talk to you about today.
First: our goal is not to simply parachute in and do a rally. Every time we leave a state, we follow up with people who attended our events and give them opportunities to take additional actions. Sometimes, it can be demanding that their member of Congress hold a town hall and tell them if they’re going to vote for tax breaks for billionaires while they slash Medicaid. We’re also asking people to go door-to-door educating their neighbors as to what’s going on in Washington. In some states, like Colorado and Utah, we have asked people to get involved in fights important to organized labor or in protecting the environment. In other words, the rallies are the beginning of our efforts, not the end.
As a result of your support, we have already hired organizers in several competitive Congressional districts and are in the process of hiring more. Our organizers have helped turn out people to other events and rallies, including last weekend’s "Hands Off" events. We have held virtual organizing meetings where people can learn how they can best engage in grassroots organizing. In our first virtual meeting, more than 600 people in Iowa's First Congressional District joined. We have even more RSVP's for an organizing meeting in Wisconsin later today.
But there is much more to be done if we’re going to be successful in taking on the Oligarchs who today control the economic and political life of our nation.
In the next week, we are going to help a group called "Run for Something" identify what I hope will be thousands of Americans who want to run for office at all levels on a progressive agenda that represents the needs of the working class of our country. I am talking about school boards, city councils, state legislatures and the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. We are talking about running candidates and mobilizing grassroots activism in EVERY state in the country. Please be on the lookout for that email and consider if now is the moment YOU may want to run for office.
We are also exploring new and creative ways to educate each other in a world where nearly the entire media and communications infrastructure is owned and controlled by the wealthiest people on earth. Our rallies in the last week were viewed more than 2 million times. But we must do more.
We are holding non-political events to build community that bring people together. In my home state of Vermont, we hold free-throw shooting basketball contests for kids, a chess tournament and community walks. When Republicans are trying to divide us up based on race, gender, religion and more, our job is to come together, support each other and give each other strength.
And we must engage in a coordinated effort to support progressive candidates who are not only prepared to stand up to Donald Trump and his Republicans allies, but who are offering real solutions to the problems facing working people, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor. I am talking about contested House and Senate races this cycle where we have a chance to elect progressives over establishment Democrats.
Now, you know your history as well as I do. You know that real change never takes place from the top down. It takes place when ordinary people, by the millions, are prepared to stand up and fight for justice.
And the truth is, we are trying to do something that the establishment in the Democratic Party is incapable of doing. The sad truth is that many Democratic politicians have very few roots in their communities and are unable to generate grassroots enthusiasm. If we waited on them to defeat Trumpism and move our country forward, we'd be waiting forever.
So it is up to us.
Not me.
Us.
It is up to us to first stop a Republican reconciliation bill that will provide tax cuts for billionaires while cutting lifesaving programs for the poor and working class of this country.
And long term, it is up to us to transform this country.
This is big stuff, and it is not the time for small thinking. It is not the time for the same old same old establishment politics and stale "Inside the Beltway" ideas.
Now IS the time for millions of working families to come together, to revitalize American democracy, to end the collapse of the American middle class and to make certain that our children and grandchildren are able to enjoy a quality of life that brings them health, prosperity, security and joy — and that once again makes the United States the leader in the world in the fight for economic and social justice, for environmental sanity and for a world of peace.
Let's get it done.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
👋 Before you go... 👋
Thank you to everyone who has donated to make Bernie's rallies over the last few weeks possible. But we're not done yet.
Over the coming weeks, Bernie is going to keep running around the country and organizing people around an economy that works for all of us, not just the one percent. If everyone who read this email contributed $27, we'd have more than enough to get it done.
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