U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on stage in Tempe on March 20, 2025. The pair are touring swing states to host "Fight Oligarchy" rallies. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders rallied a coalition of progressive allies and supporters in Tempe Thursday night to “fight back” against the chaos in Washington D.C. created by President Donald Trump’s executive orders and departmental cuts.
He emphasized a need to separate money from politics.
“Our fight is to make sure we remain a democracy. One person, one vote. Not billionaires buying elections,” Sanders said, alluding to the $277 million Musk spent to elect Trump.
The event at Arizona State University’s Mullet Arena was filled to capacity. At least a thousand people were stopped outside the arena because there was no room inside.
Last year, Donald Trump held a campaign rally at Mullet Arena, but drew considerably fewer people.
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The rally was part of Sanders’ “Fight Oligarchy” tour, in which he and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been rallying in swing states.
Unlike Trump’s October event at the arena, which focused on fears of immigration, the Sanders rally focused largely on issues of economic inequality, a longtime platform of Sanders and his supporters.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders focused on Republican plans to cut programs like Social Security and Medicaid, which would have an outsized impact on marginalized communities that rely on those programs for assistance.
House Republicans passed a budget resolution last week that directs the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut at least $880 billion from programs under its jurisdiction — of which Medicaid is by far the largest.
Republicans have said that they have no intention of cutting the program, but Project 2025, a far-right blueprint for Trump to dramatically reshape the federal government and eliminate social safety net spending that conservatives have long opposed calls for deep cuts to Medicaid.
An estimated 600,000 people in Arizona alone could lose medical coverage if Medicaid is cut by one-third, the scenario that GOP lawmakers have been currently proposing. As of February, there were 2 million people in Arizona, more than 20% of the people in the state, enrolled in AHCCCS.
If those cuts go into effect, approximately 47,000 rural residents would lose their health coverage, as would 190,000 children. More than 1 in 6 seniors would lose nursing home care.
In their speeches Thursday night, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders each stressed their belief that limiting the influence of money in politics is key to empowering voters. Both invoked up the landmark Citizens United case by name several times.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. FEC that the government is prohibited from outlawing political spending by corporations. The ruling led to an avalanche of “dark money” spending in campaigns, named because the sources of the money spent by nonprofits remain anonymous.
“We must get big money out of politics,” Ocasio-Cortez said, leading to the crowd chanting “AOC.”
Sanders echoed her sentiment in his speech as well, directly saying that the ruling in Citizens United needs to be challenged and that campaigns should be run with public funding as opposed to private contributions.
But campaign finance was not the sole focus. The ongoing turmoil of layoffs across federal agencies was a major talking point of many speakers.
Marilyn Wilbur, an Air Force veteran who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan and survived six bouts of cancer, told the crowd she is deeply concerned about the Trump administration’s plan to lay off 80,000 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I rely on the VA for my health care,” Wilbur said, adding that it was the VA that helped her beat her most recent bout of cancer.
Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, spoke to the recent news of Trump directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to close the Department of Education.
“Arizona receives $1 billion of federal money and there are 20,000 jobs at risk,” Garcia said, adding that the state has seen major budgetary issues created from the state’s universal expansion of the school voucher program, something Republicans hope to implement nationally.
While Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and other speakers focused on the recent chaos within the Trump administration, both Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders also took shots at their own party.
“We need a Democratic Party that fights hard for us, too,” she said to loud cheers and a standing ovation. She then alluded to Arizona progressives working to oust former Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who often clashed with members of her own party.
“And that is how you got two fantastic senators in Mark Kelly and Rueben Gallego,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Members of Arizona’s Democratic caucus were present, including U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, Phoenix Councilwoman Anna Hernandez, state Rep. Lorena Austin, state Rep. Cesar Aguilar and state Sen. Analise Ortiz.
“From the bottom of my heart I am convinced that they can be defeated,” Sanders said Thursday night towards the end of his speech. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez will be back in Arizona on Saturday in Tucson for another rally after they visit Colorado later this week.
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