Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez swung through Bakersfield on Tuesday as part of their Fighting Oligarchy tour.
The progressive duo took the stage at Dignity Health Arena in front of around 4,000 people.
The big picture: Ocasio-Cortez was the first of the two to give a speech, talking for around 30 minutes.
- Sanders followed Ocasio-Cortez with a speech that lasted a little under a half an hour.
What she’s saying: Similar to a town hall event that Rep. Ro Khanna (D–Fremont) held in Bakersfield last month, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez used the opportunity to go after Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford).
- Ocasio-Cortez said Valadao has voted with Republicans to cut Medicaid and veterans benefits so they can take the money and give it to billionaires and companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.
- “And again Bakersfield, you know who voted for that? Congressman David Valadao. He knows that that’s not what you want. He knows it is deeply unpopular, and he knows that it hurts the people of Bakersfield,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “But he is not there to serve the working families of this community. He is there to serve himself and the billionaires who support him and the Republican party. But he also knows that the only chance that they have to get away with such a deeply unpopular agenda is to stoke deep divisions along race, identity and culture to keep us fighting and distracted.”
- She called on everyone to choose democracy and freedom, rallying them to fight against President Donald Trump.
- “That means we must choose to out-organize the oligarchy,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And we must do away with the power of big money, and that, Bakersfield, is why even as a waitress with a long-shot campaign I decided I would never take money from lobbyists and corporations and it’s why I never will.”
- She went on to say that if Trump wants to find the rapists and criminals in the U.S. he should look in the mirror, which got a rousing ovation from the crowd.
- Along with calling for a ban on individual stock trading by members of Congress, she called on the community to organize pressure against Valadao in 2026.
- “We must start working right now to give David Valadao the boot and replace him with a brawling Democrat who will stand up for the working people of this community,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
What he’s saying: Sanders started his speech with a call back to his childhood, living paycheck to paycheck with his parents in a rent controlled apartment in New York City and continued to talk about wealth inequality across the nation.
- “We have, again in the richest country on Earth, so many of our people are struggling while the people on top have never ever had it so good,” Sanders said.
- He called it insane that Elon Musk has more wealth than half of the country combined.
- “And let me tell you something about these oligarchs,” Sanders said. “You all know what oligarchs are? Oligarchs are people who have a serious addiction problem. We all know people dealing with drugs, right? We know people dealing with alcohol, right? People who smoke too much, right? You know what the addiction is of the oligarchs? Greed. It’s unbelievable.”
- Sanders then focused his attention on Valadao, although he mispronounced his name as Valadero.
- “I come from the state of Vermont and I’m here in Bakersfield,” Sanders said. “Alexandria comes from New York and she is here in Bakersfield. Now Mr. Congressman, you live in this district, why don’t you show up at a town meeting like this? And when you show up I think people are going to have a very simple question for you, and that is ‘Are you going to vote for tax breaks for billionaires and cut Medicaid, nutrition and housing?’ So Mr. Congressman, that’s the question on people’s mind. Have the guts, show up and answer that question.”
- Close to the end of Sanders’ speech, a man who was holding a Palestinian flag was escorted out of the arena.
