(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Sen. Bernie Sanders brings ‘Fight Oligarchy’ tour to Iowa City [1]

['Doapp', 'Megan Woolard', 'The Gazette', 'David J. Lynch', '- The Washington Post', 'Emily Andersen', 'Dick Hogan', 'Cami Koons - Iowa Capital Dispatch', 'Vanessa Miller', 'Seth Tupper - South Dakota Searchlight']

Date: 2025-02

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

IOWA CITY — Hundreds of people packed the Englert Theatre Saturday morning to hear U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, speak at a podium with the words “Fight Oligarchy” situated between the American and Iowa flags.

Iowa City served as the second stop of Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which began in Omaha Friday night.

Sanders, an independent, said he’s traveling to congressional districts narrowly won by Republicans to ask constituents to demand that their representative vote no on any bill that would cut funding for Medicaid, housing or education and hold a public town hall meeting.

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won her re-election bid in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District over Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan by less than 1,000 votes in the November 2024 election.

Sanders said he believes the United States is heading toward an oligarchy, and he specifically mentioned Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.

“When we talk about oligarchy, it is not just the massive amounts of income and wealth inequality that currently exists. It's not just that we are living in two Americas, people on top off doing their thing with incredible wealth, while tens of millions of people are struggling,” he said.

Dianne Dillon-Ridgley listens to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, speak at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City on Saturday. (Amir Prellberg/Freelance)

Sanders also called out Musk’s financial involvement in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, where Musk’s PAC has spent money supporting the conservative candidate Brad Schimel.

“He is so arrogant, involved in a Supreme Court election in one state, and if he can get involved and win a Supreme Court election, it was like, what can he not win? Brothers and sisters, that is not the democracy that men and women fought and died to defend,” Sanders told the crowd.

Sanders referenced Trump’s recent efforts to block federal spending, and lawsuits against media outlets such as the Des Moines Register as evidence of the president’s descent toward authoritarianism.

A packed house claps for a speaker before listening to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, speak at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City on Saturday. (Amir Prellberg/Freelance)

“Trump recently posted a statement that said, and I quote, ‘He who saves his country does not violate any law.’ What does that mean? It means, essentially, that Trump believes he can do anything he wants for any reason. He can ignore Congress, he can ignore the courts. He is above the law, and that's not just talk. That is exactly how he has been behaving,” said Sanders.

Throughout his speech, Sanders mentioned historical events and moments throughout American history including the Revolutionary War, abolition of slavery, the Gettysburg Address and the women’s suffrage movement.

“I say all of that to put it in a context that these are very tough times, we're taking on people with incredible wealth and power. They own the media, they own the political process, and sometimes I know it can become overwhelming. We can't feel despair. But in the past, Americans stood up, they fought back, they won. We can do the same,” said Sanders.

In addition to Sanders, a number of Iowans spoke, including Brian Gibbs, former education technician at Effigy National Monument who was fired earlier this month as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to limit federal spending.

Gibbs, who was given a standing ovation from the crowd, has been sharing his story nationally since being fired.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, speaks at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday. (Amir Prellberg/Freelance)

Comments: [email protected]

Get a weekly roundup of Johnson County news by signing up for my Johnson County Update newsletter.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.thegazette.com/national-politics/sen-bernie-sanders-brings-fight-oligarchy-tour-to-iowa-city/

Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/