Part of Sanders's "Fighting Oligarchy" tour, the event followed a rally the two held in Greeley at the University of Northern Colorado earlier today. The tour stops in House of Representatives swing districts in the next election — specifically, those currently controlled by Republicans.
Much of Denver has long been represented by Democrat Diana DeGette, but Republican Gabe Evans beat incumbent Democrat Yadira Caraveo in a close race for the 8th Congressional District, which includes parts of north Denver.
Many of the people who came to Denver's "Fighting Oligarchy" rally were in search of guidance from the popular Democratic Party leaders as Trump issues executive orders that empower billionaire Elon Musk, dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and federal civil rights divisions, reinstate centuries-old mass deportation tactics, and fire thousands of federal employees.
Thousands in Line
“I would love to know what those of us on the left should be, could be doing,” said Marcia Neville, a Jefferson County resident, as she waited for the rally. “I’d like to hear a few things that we can do as a cohesive group to stand up against what’s going on in Washington.”Denver resident Lisa Taggart also said she came to hear Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez detail "their plan," because she is frustrated with Trump and the Democratic Party's failure to effectively stand up to him and the newly created federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by Musk.
“The Dems have dropped the proverbial ball, and we need guidance,” Taggart said. “There are a lot of us out here who are upset with what’s happening, and we feel powerless.”
According to city estimates, around 30,000 people attended the rally...a record on this tour.
Singers and Speakers Take Stage
Musician and Indigenous activist Xiuhtezcatl performed as the crowd waited, as did Freedom Singers Gospel. Also speaking: illegally fired FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, Liz Waddick of the Colorado Educators Association teachers union, and Kim Cordova, who leads the King Soopers workers union in Denver.Just one day after organizing a major protest at the State Capitol across the street to oppose potential budget cuts to education, Waddick didn't hold back at Friday's rally, either.
“Bring money home to fund schools, and pass the Food Protection Act,” Waddick told the crowd. “The solution seems simple: tax the rich.”
Recently Fired FTC Commissioner Wants to See Trump in Court
Keeping with the theme of Sanders's national tour, Bedoya also went after billionaires in his speech.“Groceries are already way too expensive,” Bedoya said. “But it’s not just groceries: The rent is too high. ...Yet I got an email from the president saying the government was firing me. But this isn’t about me. This is about the billionaires standing over the president’s shoulder at the inauguration. Every single one of them is being sued.”
Bedoya, an attorney, was appointed by then-President Joe Biden to serve on the Federal Trade Commission in 2022. He and fellow Democrat Kelly Slaughter were both fired by Trump earlier this week before their seven-year terms were set to end. Hidoya and Slaughter have said they plan to sue Trump.
“This isn’t about Democrat versus Republican,” Hidoya said. “This is about the rule of law.”
Ocasio-Cortez Wants Democratic Party to Self-Reflect
"The estimate we have already is 30,000. ...I want to thank each and every one of you who showed up here today," Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd when she took the stand.Ocasio-Cortez said she shares "the frustration and heartache that comes from watching those in power actively tear down" democracy, adding that there is an "extreme concentration of power and corruption that is taking over this country like never before."
“We’re all here because we share a frustration seeing the powerful in Washington refuse to work for working Americans like us," she said.
She still has hope for a "better world," but "to get there, we need be honest about where we are," she told the crowd.
"Our political system is ill-prepared for this cause of power," Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that's all "starting with the role of money in politics."
The Democratic Part must improve at knowing "how to stand for the working class," according to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Bennito L. Kelty
And then Trump "handed the keys of the federal government to Elon Musk."
But "it's not just about" Trump, she said.
"We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us, too," she told the crowd, and the Dems must improve at knowing "how to stand for the working class."
Ocasio-Cortez gave shout-outs to Colorado's Democratic members of Congress: Representatives Jason Crow, Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette and Brittany Pettersen, as well as senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper.
And then she rallied the crowd to vote in the mid-term election in 2026: “We need to spend every day of the next year to educate our neighbors and give these Republicans the boot.”
Sanders to Denver : “We have never ever had a crowd this big."
“We have never ever had a crowd this big," Bernie Sanders told a cheering crowd that roared when he stepped up to the mic. “You’re sending a profound message throughout the world. The whole world is watching to see if the people are going to stand up to Trumpism, oligarchy and authoritarianism.A long and vocal supporter of increasing taxes on the wealthy, giving free tuition at colleges, and "the trade union movement," Sanders said he wants to "not allow America to become an oligarchy."
Sanders also accused "Trump and his friends" of wanting to end Social Security, pointing to recent Republican efforts to cut Medicaid.
"We're gonna fight and pass Medicare for all," Sanders said — although that probably won't happen under the current Republican-controlled House, Senate and White House.
But Sanders also hit at other longtime causes he's pushed for, some more recently than others, such as immigrant rights, cheaper health care, less partisan politics and a women's right to choose.
"They play one group off against another. They tell you who you're gonna hate, and our job is to do exactly the opposite," Sanders said of the "right wing."
Sanders ended with a small slice of hope in his speech, saying that people cannot only "defeat Trumpism, but we can create the nation we deserve."
“They’re trying to divide us,” he said. “This is a difficult moment in American history, but if we stand together, there is nothing that can stop us."
With 30,000 in the crowd, this was indeed the largest group of Bernie supporters to turn out on this tour. A counter-protest called by the Colorado Republican Party a block away on Cherokee Street attracted a half-dozen people.
