Bernie Sanders Takes on Trump, Musk, and Democrats in Fiery Rally with AOC

Tempe, AZ - Senator Bernie Sanders didn’t hold back in a sweeping critique that managed to hit President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, and even members of his own Democratic Party. Speaking to Fox News Digital ahead of a rally at Arizona State University, Sanders laid bare his frustrations with the state of U.S. politics.

“I think what the American people see and what the polling suggests is that there’s not a whole lot of faith in either party,” Sanders said. His remarks came as recent polls showed the Democratic Party’s favorability slipping to unprecedented lows. Ouch.

Sanders, the 83-year-old senator from Vermont, joined forces with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to kick off a three-day “Fighting Oligarchy” tour across Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Their message? A fiery condemnation of billionaires’ influence in politics, including Musk, who Sanders claimed is “essentially running the government” under Trump’s administration. Musk is heading up the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (yes, that’s really a thing, and its acronym is DOGE, of all things).

Sanders accused Musk of slashing the federal workforce and targeting programs like Social Security and Medicaid—all while Republicans push for tax breaks for the super-rich. “Does that make sense to people? It doesn’t,” he said bluntly. Honestly, it’s hard to argue with that logic.

But Sanders wasn’t just throwing shade at Republicans. He also took his own party to task for leaning too heavily on billionaire donors. “Americans correctly perceive that both political parties are dominated by big money interests,” he noted, calling for an end to what he described as a corrupt campaign finance system. Representative Ocasio-Cortez echoed this sentiment, urging the crowd to demand more from Democrats and elect those who “actually fight for the working class.”

Meanwhile, Trump has been busy flexing his executive powers since returning to the White House two months ago. Among his recent moves was an executive order aimed at dismantling the Department of Education—an action Sanders called “outrageous” and a blatant overstep of presidential authority. “If you want to get rid of the Department of Education, fine. Come to Congress,” Sanders challenged, suggesting Trump’s approach veered dangerously into authoritarianism.

Adding to the political drama, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, has faced growing criticism for supporting a Republican-led federal funding bill. While neither Sanders nor Ocasio-Cortez mentioned Schumer directly during their speeches, the senator dodged questions about whether Schumer should step down from his leadership role. “That’s kind of inside the Beltway stuff,” Sanders quipped, clearly uninterested in fueling that fire.

On another note, Sanders condemned recent acts of vandalism against Tesla facilities as “outrageous” and “absurd,” while reaffirming the right to peaceful protest. The attacks, which Attorney General Pam Bondi labeled “domestic terrorism,” have been linked to growing discontent with Musk’s policies.

“Nobody has the right to engage in any form of violence, period,” Sanders emphasized. While his stance here was clear, his broader message to Trump and Musk was equally unambiguous: “We will not allow you to move this country into an oligarchy.”

The battle lines are drawn, and if Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have anything to say about it, the fight for the soul of America’s political system is far from over.