‘Greed, greed, and more greed’: AOC and Bernie Sanders blast Trump and Musk at largest anti-oligarchy rally but | EUROtoday

A staggering 36,000 folks protested Donald Trump’s administration in Los Angeles Saturday, on the largest rally so far of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour

In fiery remarks, the New Yorker laid into the president, accusing him of “manipulating the markets” for his billionaire mates along with his “tariff shuffle” this week, wherein Trump pulled a dramatic U-turn on the implementation of his commerce struggle towards U.S. business companions and allies.

Taking to the stage at Gloria Molina Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles, Sanders famous that the gang went again half a mile, earlier than saying that Musk had stated most people attending these rallies had been paid organizers. He requested the gang: “Anybody here get paid to come today?”

The query was met with a powerful: “No!”

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Sanders stated that Trump was usually “very envious of sizes” and claimed that solely two or three thousand folks present as much as his rallies and that, talking within the third particular person, Bernie “can’t compete with Trump.”

“He lied,” stated the senator. “I invite him to come to LA, tell the people here why you think it’s a great idea to cut Medicaid and nutrition and healthcare so you can give tax breaks to billionaires.”

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Continuing, Sanders stated: “Our good friend Elon Musk sent out a tweet and in essence, he said, you know, Bernie Sanders has been talking about the growth of oligarchy year after year after year.”

“Well, Elon, you’re damn right. That’s what I’ve been talking about. The difference is I’m no longer talking about how we’re moving to oligarchy. I’m talking about how we are living today in an oligarchic form of society.”

He added: “Let me tell you something about the oligarchs. They’re very, very religious people. But their religion isn’t based on doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Their religion is based on greed — greed, and more greed.”

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Ocasio-Cortez known as the present second “terrifying,” saying: “We are watching our neighbors, students, and friends being fired, targeted, and disappeared.”

After decrying that activists are being detained with out cost for exercising their First Amendment rights — particularly highlighting the instances of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk — the New York progressive Democrat railed towards inventory buying and selling by elected representatives in Congress, earlier than turning particularly to this week’s market turbulence and Trump’s tariffs.

“Let’s be clear: the White House’s tariff shuffle had nothing to do with manufacturing, despite what they claimed. It was about manipulating the markets. It was about hurting retirees and everyday people in the sell-off — so Trump could quietly enrich his friends, who he tipped off to ‘buy the dip’ before reversing it all in the morning,” Ocasio-Cortez stated.

“Donald Trump is a criminal — convicted on 34 felony counts of fraud. He is lying, and he is manipulating the stock market too. At his best, he enriches himself, the billionaires who back him, and the members of Congress who trade with him. Not you. Not me. Not the people.”

“Oligarchy or Democracy,” she stated. “But, we cannot have both.”

Concluding his remarks, Senator Sanders stated: “When Trump looks out at this crowd… they pay attention to this stuff, Elon Musk does. You are scaring the hell out of them. Because they know what we know: They are the 1 percent and we are the 99 percent.”

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez had been joined by fellow Democrat representatives Reps. Ro Khanna, Jimmy Gomez, Pramila Jayapal, and Maxwell Frost, amongst different elected officers. There had been additionally performances by Neil Young, Maggie Rogers, and Joan Baez.

On a spin by way of the western states, the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour subsequent travels to Salt Lake City, Utah; Nampa, Idaho; Bakersfield, California; Folsom, California; and Missoula, Montana.