Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will launch the second leg of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour next weekend with rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
The 83-year-old senator’s latest trip follows unexpectedly large rallies he held in Omaha and Iowa City last weekend. Sanders urged attendees to pressure Republican members of Congress to oppose federal budget cuts and what he calls the nation’s rapid move toward authoritarianism.
“The time to fight back is now!” Sanders told an overflow crowd in Omaha.
After the event, Sanders told Seven Days he was inspired by the turnout and enthusiastic response, and he vowed to press on with the tour.
The next leg will also target districts Republicans won narrowly in 2024. Sanders hopes to pressure them to vote against likely cuts to programs needed by working people — such as Medicaid, housing, nutrition and education — to help fund the $4.5 trillion price tag for extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
The nation’s richest 1 percent stand to gain $1 trillion in tax breaks from the budget package under consideration, Sanders has noted.
Sanders again plans to pack a lot in a short period this time.
He will speak at an arena in Kenosha, Wis., on March 7, at 6:30 p.m. On March 8, he’ll head to Altoona, Wis., to speak at high school at 10:30 a.m. before making his way to Warren, Mich., at 4 p.m.
During his speeches last week, Sanders noted that the Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump donor now orchestrating mass firings and funding freezes as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, had the “arrogance” to threaten to get involved in the election of a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
In a statement Friday, Sanders vowed to continue fighting and urged all Americans to do the same.
“Today, the oligarchs and the billionaire class are getting richer and richer and have more and more power,” he said. “Meanwhile, 60 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and most of our people are struggling to pay for health care, childcare, and housing. This country belongs to all of us, not just the few. We must fight back.”