Dear Holly,
These are crazy times. It appears that every day we're dealing with one crisis or another, outrageous decisions and statements from the White House, and the continued undermining of the Constitution by Trump.
Let me take this opportunity to tell you where I think we are in this difficult moment – and how we can best go forward. I also want to stress that in the midst of a lot of bad news, there is also some good news.
In my view, the key components of Trumpism are: oligarchy, authoritarianism, unprecedented dishonesty, kleptocracy, and economic policies which favor the rich while impoverishing working families.
Abraham Lincoln talked about a government "of the people, by the people, for the people." I think it's clear that today we have a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class.
Elon Musk contributed $277 million to get Trump elected president and he was rewarded with the most important position in government. Trump nominated 13 other billionaires to head various government agencies.
For years, as many of you know, I've been talking about how our country is moving toward an oligarchic form of society, and people had their doubts. What is Bernie talking about? What is oligarchy? Not anymore. It's out in the open for all to see.
But it's not just oligarchy and a government by the billionaire class. It's a very rapid movement toward authoritarianism. Virtually every day, Trump is usurping the powers of Congress. He is holding back funds that Congress appropriated. He is ending programs and agencies that he has no legal power to do. He is shipping billions in military aid to Netanyahu under an "emergency" provision and has developed his tariff proposals under "emergency" decree.
He is aggressively undermining the first amendment and freedom of expression. He has sued major media outlets like ABC, CBS, Meta and the Des Moines Register for stories they wrote which he didn't like. And now his FCC is investigating PBS and NPR. He is clearly trying to intimidate the media and prevent information coming out that he doesn't like.
But it's not just Congress and the media that he's going after. He is also waging an outrageous attack against our legal system. He, and fellow Republicans, are threatening to impeach judges who render decisions that he doesn't like. He has also successfully received millions in tribute from large cowardly law firms that have opposed him in the past.
But it's not just Congress, the media, and the judiciary that he's going after. He's now waging a vitriolic attack against major universities that are teaching courses or allowing activities he doesn't like. For years, we have heard conservatives talk about decentralized government, getting the government off the backs of the people. We've heard about how education is a local issue. And now we have a president who is telling Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, and other universities what they can and cannot do. Pathetically, some of them are bowing to his will — firing faculty or changing courses.
And, in an absolutely unconstitutional way, federal agents have grabbed foreign students, thrown them into unmarked cars and taken them to detention facilities. Their crime? They may have attended a demonstration or written an article critical of Israel.
Trump has also decided that he needs to lead the culture war. He has made himself Chairman of the Board of the Kennedy Center.
All of these activities make one thing very clear: Trump has little respect for the Constitution of the United States and for the rule of law. He wants more and more power unto himself. He wants to lead an authoritarian nation.
And to make a bad situation even worse, Trump and Musk are rapidly trying to dismantle federal agencies that serve working families and the poor. Musk has laid off thousands of workers at the Social Security Administration, which will make it harder for the elderly and the disabled to get the benefits that they paid for. Many will die as a result.
Trump and Musk have also decided to lay off some 83,000 employees from the Veterans Administration, which will mean that the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our country will see a deterioration in the health care they receive and the speed in which they receive the benefits they earned.
And then, on top of all that, Trump and his Republican colleagues are working on a "reconciliation bill" which will make massive cuts to Medicaid, education, nutrition, etc. in order to give over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1 percent.
So that's the bad news. And it is extremely bad. Here's the good news.
Over the last several months I have been traveling the country in what I call a Fighting Oligarchy tour. I have been to Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona. In the last three states I was joined by my House colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In every instance, the turnouts have been extraordinary. In Denver we had 34,000 people turn out – the biggest rally I have ever held. Bottom line: the American people are angry and are fighting back. And let me tell you: The Republicans are taking notice and getting nervous. Musk absurdly claimed that the people who attended the rallies were paid organizers, and Trump was forced to downplay the size of the crowds.
But it's not just rallies and crowd size that we should be proud of. We are also hiring organizers in many of the states we have visited who are working with people in their communities on how to stand up and fight back — not only against Trump, but for an agenda that works for the working families of this country.
In our first virtual meeting, more than 600 people in Iowa's First Congressional District joined together to learn how they can best engage in grassroots organizing. Many hundreds more have signed up for an organizing meeting in Iowa's Third Congressional District. That's a big deal. And we're going to expand that work as we visit more states.
I'm proud to tell you that the Fighting Oligarchy tour is continuing. Next week, I will be heading out west. AOC and I will be in California for three events. I, and others, will also be doing rallies in Boise, Idaho, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Missoula, Montana.
Let me give you another piece of good news. Last Tuesday Susan Crawford took on Elon Musk, the richest guy in the world and the $25 million that he spent - and won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Please remember that five months ago Trump won a narrow victory in Wisconsin. On Tuesday, Ms. Crawford won by a 10-point margin.
Also, on Tuesday night, in two Congressional districts in Florida where Trump had won by 30 points, Democratic candidates, while losing, cut that margin in half.
So where do we go from here?
We started this work because you know your history as well as I do. You know that real change never takes place from the top down. If we waited on the Democratic Party and DC politicians to defeat Trumpism, we'd be waiting forever.
Trumpism will only be defeated by millions of Americans, in every state in this country, coming together in a strong, grassroots movement which says NO to oligarchy, NO to authoritarianism, NO to kleptocracy, NO to massive cuts in programs that working people desperately need, NO to huge tax brakes for the richest people in our country. And that's what these events are about.
Needless to say, a few large rallies and organizing meetings will not be enough to stop Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party.
So we must continue to hold meetings and rallies in all 50 states, and then do it again and again and again. And when those rallies are over, we need to organize the people who attend to mobilize in their communities and fight back in every way we can.
We need progressives to run for office at all levels. I am talking about school boards, city councils, state legislatures, and the races that are not in the news but make a tremendous difference in local communities. I'm talking about races for governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
We need to be looking for 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 in this country.
We need to build community and bring people together. In the deepest sense we need to care for each other and give each other strength.
Sisters and brothers, it may just be possible that this country is on the brink of the political revolution we have been talking about for a long time. People are tired of the status quo and a government that only benefits the 1 percent.
Just as loudly as people are saying NO to oligarchy, they are saying YES to raising the minimum wage, YES to expanding Social Security, YES to guaranteeing health care as a human right, YES, to cutting the cost of prescription drugs, YES to paid family and medical leave, YES to equal pay for equal work, YES to more affordable housing, YES to making childcare and higher education affordable to all, YES to taking on the existential threat of climate change.
And most importantly they are saying YES to a government and an economy that works for all of us and not just the billionaire class and the Oligarchs.
Needless to say, I intend to do my part — both inside the beltway and throughout the country. In the days, weeks, and months ahead I hope you will join me in that struggle.
Bottom line: the struggle before us will not be easy. But, for the sake of our kids and future generations, it's a struggle we cannot run away from. We must take on Trumpism — and defeat it. We must create a government that works for all, and not just the few.
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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