TEMPE, Ariz. – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont – champions of the left – repeatedly targeted President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk as they kicked off a three-day swing through three electorally important western states.
But Sanders, and especially Ocasio-Cortez, also trained some of their fire on the Democratic Party, with the best-known member of the so-called “Squad” of diverse and progressive House members urging her own party to have “the courage to brawl” against Republicans.
Trump has been on a tear since returning to the White House two months ago, flexing his political muscles to expand presidential powers as he’s upended longstanding government policy and made major cuts to the federal workforce through a flurry of executive orders and actions.
And Sanders and Cortez took to the stage at their first stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, while Trump signed an executive order to begin the longstanding conservative goal of demolishing the Department of Education at a White House ceremony.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., greet the crowd together during a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour event at Arizona State University, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Ocasio-Cortez accused Trump and his GOP allies of “lying to and screwing over working and middle-class Americans so that they can steal our health care, social security and veterans benefits in order to pay for their tax cuts for the billionaires and bailouts for their crypto friends.”
And Sanders charged that “every day Trump is trying to take power away from Congress. He is trying to take power away from the judiciary.”
“We have a message for Mr. Trump and that is, we will not allow you to move this country into an oligarchy,” Sanders emphasized.”We’re not going to allow you and your friend Mr. Musk and the other billionaires to wreak havoc on this country.”
But the inability of Democrats in Congress, who are out of power in the White House as well as the House and Senate, to stop the majority Republicans is causing tensions within the party amid increasing calls for leaders to come up with a stronger strategy to resist Trump.
“This isn’t just about Republicans,” Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd in Arizona. “We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us. That means each and every one of us choosing and voting for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class…I want you to look at every level of office around and support Democrats who fight, because those are the ones who can actually win against Republicans.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., arrives to speak during a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour event at Arizona State University, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Sanders-Ocasio-Cortez stops are drawing large crowds. The fire marshal in Tempe, Arizona said 11,300 packed the Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University, with thousands in an overflow section outside the arena.
The tour, dubbed by Sanders as “Fighting Oligarchy,” continues Friday in Denver and Greeley, Colorado and concludes Saturday with a rally in Tucson, Arizona.
It comes as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber, is facing increasing fire from his own party for his support last week for a Republican-crafted federal funding bill that averted a government shutdown.
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Neither Ocasio-Cortez nor Sanders mentioned Schumer during their speeches in Las Vegas or Tempe.
And Sanders, an independent who has long caucused with the Democrats and who is part of Schumer’s leadership team in the Senate, declined in an interview with Fox News Digital ahead of the Tempe rally, to answer whether he agreed with calls for Schumer to step down from his leadership position.
“That’s kind of inside the Beltway stuff,” Sanders said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour event at Arizona State University, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
But it was on the minds of some of those attending the rallies.
There were chants of “primary Chuck” directed at Ocasio-Cortez at the Las Vegas rally.
And in Tempe, Cindy Garman and Pat Robinson, both of Prescott, Arizona, told Fox News that they were “really disappointed” with Schumer’s move.
And Amanda Ratloff of Gilbert, Arizona, said Schumer “is not the leader we need right now. We need somebody that will actually fight back and fight for the American people and not just give in to Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”
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Sanders, in his speech, vowed to fight.
“We are going to fight Trump and his oligarchy friends,” he emphasized. “From the bottom of my heart I am convinced that they can be defeated.”
