Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his Fighting Oligarchy tour to Missoula on Wednesday. Around 9,000 people filled the University of Montana Adams Center and overflowed outside. Montana Public Radio’s Edward O'Brien spoke with the Senator after his speech.
Edward O'Brien Senator, the midterms are over a year away. Word is, many Montanans who oppose Trump and his policies and his administration are getting little to no response from our delegation here in Montana. Rallies like this one and "Hands Off" from a couple of weeks ago, that sugar buzz wears off after a little while. It's a short buzz. What precisely would you like Montanans who support you to do after all this is over?
Sen. Bernie Sanders That's a good question. And I'll tell you exactly what we are doing. We are not just parachuting in and doing great rallies and get everybody excited. We are hiring organizers all over this country to build strong grassroots movements right now, especially focusing on those marginal districts where Republicans have members of Congress. And the immediate demand, the short-term demand is: Mr. or Ms. congressperson, do not vote for this reconciliation bill which will give $1.1 trillion in tax breaks to the richest people in this country while you cut Medicaid, nutrition programs, and housing. Not acceptable. Do not vote for that. And that's the word we're getting out right now. And we're going to have organizers on the ground going door to door, holding meetings, demanding that members of Congress do not vote for this horrific piece of legislation.
Edward O'Brien Do you have the capital to do that, though, after the election from, not you personally, but after the elections last fall, where Democrats took a bit of a shellacking, is there that motion, do you think?
Sen. Bernie Sanders Well, as a matter of fact, you're talking to the longest-serving Independent in the history of the United States Congress. And, you know, I'm not staying up nights worrying about the Democratic leadership. We are doing what we have to do. And what we are doing is organizing working people at the grassroots level to demand an economy that works for everybody, not just Mr. Musk and his billionaire friends. Look, here's the reality. One man, Mr. Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom 57% of American households. That is insane. That is oligarchy on steroids. Meanwhile, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And the case that we are making is that in the richest country in the history of the world, we can create an economy that works for all of us, not just a few. People are responding as you've seen here today in Missoula, people are responding very positively to that message because they know it's true.
Edward O'Brien Speaking of Missoula, you have brought this tour —enormously successful — Los Angeles, Denver, Tucson, Boise, Nampa. Why Missoula, Montana, of all places?
Sen. Bernie Sanders Well, it is, again, it's a state which is kind of purplish, trending Republican, and I think that with proper organizing, if that working people coming together, young people coming together and seniors coming together — look, people in Montana, people from Vermont, people all over this country do not believe that the top 1% should own more wealth than the bottom 90%. They do not think that 800,000 people should be sleeping out on the street. So, I think all over the country, if we focus on the real issues that impact working people in Vermont, Montana, California, all over, we can create the kind of political revolution that we have needed in this country for a long time. And the bottom line, what are we talking about? Nothing very radical. You're talking about a government which represents all of the people; an economy that works for all, and not just for Mr. Musk and the billionaire class.
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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought their "Fighting Oligarchy" tour to Missoula Wednesday. The event drew an estimated 9,000 people to the University of Montana campus.
Edward O'Brien The Post last weekend ran an article suggesting that this tour, you're meeting with, potentially even drafting, potential Democratic and independent candidates to run on the midterm ballot. Was that accurate?
Sen. Bernie Sanders Not quite, but what we are doing is, look, we had 9,000 people out here today. Do I believe that there are wonderful people here who can run for school boards, run for city council, run for state Legislature, run for Congress, run for Senate, run for president? They're here. And what our job is to give people the confidence in saying, you know what, I can do it. But it's not only running for office, it's being involved in the political process in the broader sense of the word. We need to strengthen the trade union movement in America. You know, we need to see organizations established that build community, bringing people together at a time when a lot of people are feeling lonely and alienated.
Edward O'Brien I'll bring his in for a landing. Describe the ideal person who could mount a serious challenge to a candidate from Montana's dominant Republican party. It's ruby Red here in this state.
Sen. Bernie Sanders I don't accept that. I mean, you just had a Democratic member of the United States Senate not so long ago, Jon Tester. I think you need a candidate who is most likely from the working class, maybe a trade unionist, somebody who can speak a language that working people understand, somebody who has calluses on his or her hands, maybe, a teacher, just somebody who comes from the ranks of working people and says, you know what, I know what it's like struggling to feed my kids or to pay the mortgage or to pay the rent or to put aside a few bucks for retirement. I know what that's like. And I'm going to go to Washington and fight for you so that we have an economy that works for you and not just the people on top.
Edward O'Brien Tester lost, number one, and the Montana Democrats have no backbench, no?
Sen. Bernie Sanders Look, I'm not all that knowledgeable about Montana, you know, Democrats and Montana politics. It's not my issue. My issue here is to build a strong, progressive grassroots movement all over the country, including Montana.
