BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - There was hardly an empty seat at Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting oligarchy” rally in Bakersfield yesterday. Thousands attended the independent Vermont senator’s event in conservative Kern County.
Sanders and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared the stage at Dignity Health Arena.
Not surprisingly, the two progressive firebrands railed against President Donald Trump, discussed wealth inequality and Elon Musk, and touched on the recent deportation of students critical of the war in Gaza.
“We are watching as our neighbors, students and friends are being fired, targeted and disappeared,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
They also took potshots at Valadao, the Hanford Republican who serves in a swing district that Democrats are hoping to flip.
“I come from Vermont, and I’m here in Bakersfield. Alexandria [Ocasio-Cortez] comes from New York and she is here in Bakersfield. Now. Mr. Congressman, you live in this district, why don’t you show up?” Sanders said.
That message resonated with 24-year-old attendee Brennan Maus, who said he had come to find politicians who are ethically and morally sound.
“I think oligarchies are in control of Congress and the White House and the Supreme Court, at the moment,” he said. “And the only chance we have to get rid of them is through progressive candidates in 2028.” Sanders staffers estimated as many as 5,000 people showed up for the event.
But not all of them were “feeling the Bern” in this decidedly conservative city. Dozens of protesters gathered outside of the rally, waving signs bearing Trump’s name and shouting “Welcome to MAGA country.”
Lori Eskew of Bakersfield was waving a MAGA flag.
“They’re ridiculous,” she said of the progressive lawmakers. “I don’t even know why they would want to come to Kern County. We’re a very red dot in the blue state. I just think that they came here to stir a pot.”
Sanders told KVPR that the fact that Trump carried Kern County by twenty points in the 2024 election is exactly why he wanted to stop in the area,
“I think this is a working class community,” he said during an exclusive interview with KVPR after the rally. “I think if we rally people together to demand an economy that works for all people, health care as a human right and…to stop Trump from moving us toward an authoritarian society, I think we have enough votes here to eventually win a congressional race.”
Bakersfield was one of the few California destinations on Sanders’ speaking tour. Later that day, Sanders spoke in Folsom, and the weekend before, he rallied in Los Angeles and made a surprise appearance during the set of pop musician Clairo during the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
