WASHINGTON – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., drew big crowds at a rally in Denver, Colorado, on Friday as they travel across the U.S. on their “fighting oligarchy” tour.
The tour comes amid tensions within the Democratic party following a vote by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., eight other Democrats and one independent to back a Republican crafted spending bill and avert a government shutdown last week.
The progressive lawmakers are mobilizing voters to stand up against President Donald Trump, the administration’s policies and the growing influence of billionaire Elon Musk.
Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that over 34,000 people joined the rally in Denver. “Working people are ready to stand together and fight for our democracy. Thank you Colorado!” she wrote.
Sanders said at the rally that “in the hundreds of rallies that I have done, we have never, ever had a rally as large as this.”
He later wrote on X that the large crowds tell him “that the American people will not allow Trump to move us into oligarchy and authoritarianism.”
During the rally, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders bashed Trump and Musk’s widespread effort to cut government spending and downsize federal agencies, and touted working class everyday Americans.
“This nation was built by working people and we’re not going to let a handful of billionaires run the government,” Sanders told the crowd, which erupted in applause and cheers.
Ocasio-Cortez also called out Democrats, saying that Americans “need a Democratic party that fights harder for us too.”
