Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders rally Democrats
LAS VEGAS — At the first stop of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour out West, two of the Democratic Party’s most unabashed progressive lawmakers had plenty to say about President Donald Trump.
LAS VEGAS — At the first stop of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour out West, two of the Democratic Party’s most unabashed progressive lawmakers had plenty to say about President Donald Trump. But they also had some strong words for their own party.
“This isn’t just about Republicans. We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us, too,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told the fired-up crowd gathered at the Craig Ranch Amphitheater to see her and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “But what that means is that we as a community must choose and vote for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class.”
While Ocasio-Cortez did not mention any Democratic leaders by name, the crowd broke out into multiple “Primary Chuck” chants — a reference to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who backed down from a funding fight with Trump last week. The move enraged the base and prompted some of Ocasio-Cortez’s House colleagues to encourage her to mount a primary challenge to Schumer, her fellow New Yorker, in 2028.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., greet the crowd during a rally at Craig Ranch Regional Park in North Las Vegas on Thursday.K.M. Cannon / Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS via Getty ImagesOcasio-Cortez and Sanders — stars on the left who are channeling a fighting spirit at a time when Democrats say that’s what they want to see more of — are looking to turn the party’s anger into action and mobilize voters in the fight against Trump and his MAGA movement.
“I think unfortunately, the conservatives are playing a really good game of chess, and now it’s time for the Dems to go ahead and step up to the plate and figure out how we’re going to go ahead and take our democracy back,” said Samantha Petras, a resident of Phoenix who attended the pair's second event of the day, in Tempe, Ariz.
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