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.
Ocasio-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.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez made a direct appeal Thursday to working-class voters — a populist message they hope will particularly resonate in a battleground state like Nevada, which is home to one of the largest hospitality workers unions in the country.
“We have two very different Americas. In one of those Americas, the wealthiest people have never, ever, in the history of our country, had it so good. People on top are doing extraordinarily well today,” Sanders said, prompting boos from the crowd. “We have more income and wealth inequality in our country than we have ever had.”
Democrats plan to hold nearly 30 town hall events this week, while Republican lawmakers continue to largely stay away from in-person constituent events because of voter backlash over Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s sweeping cuts to the federal government. Democratic lawmakers, though, are also hearing an earful from constituents who want their elected officials to stand up to Trump more aggressively.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez expect more than 51,000 people to turn out for their events this week, which will also include stops in Denver and Tucson, according to Sanders’ office. Sanders, 83, launched his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour last month with a pair of events in Iowa and Nebraska in a bid to target Republican voters dissatisfied with Trump and Musk.
Sanders planned the events in districts narrowly won by Republicans in 2024 to pressure lawmakers to vote against any cuts to entitlement programs, housing, nutrition or education, his office said.
Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged that not everyone in the crowd may agree with all of her politics or may not have even voted in the last election, but she encouraged the crowd to unite around an agenda that puts working-class voters first.
“We might all come from different places, but we share a lot of the same experiences. So to all those who came here today unsure of whether or not this is where you belong, I want to say that you do,” she said. “You do, no matter who you voted for, no matter if you know all the right words to say, no matter your race, religion, gender, identity or status, no matter, even, if you disagree with me on a bunch of things. But if you are willing to fight for someone you don’t know, you are welcome here, regardless of who they are, how they identify or where they come from — you are welcome here.”
Even as Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders tried to broaden their appeal beyond the typical base, plenty of criticism was aimed squarely at Trump.
“We will not accept an authoritarian form of society with a president who undermines the Constitution every day and is working aggressively to take away our freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” Sanders said. “No, we will not accept the society of massive economic inequalities where the very rich are becoming much richer while working families across the country struggle to put food on the table.”
The Democratic Party is struggling to find its footing amid historically low approval numbers and a voter base that wants its leaders to put up a fight against Trump’s agenda.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say they want congressional Democrats to stick to their positions even if it risks sacrificing bipartisan progress, compared with 32% who want them to make legislative compromises with Trump, according to NBC News’ most recent poll.
The polling mirrors backlash Democratic lawmakers have received at their own town hall events, where voters this week complained about the party’s “passive” response to Trump’s Cabinet picks, empowerment of Musk and cuts to the federal workforce.
The frustration among Democratic voters and lawmakers alike intensified last week after Schumer led a group of Democrats to help advance a Republican government funding bill backed by Trump to avert a government shutdown, even as House Democrats warned the measure would codify spending cuts Trump pushed for.
Ocasio-Cortez skewered Schumer last week for his support of the Republican-led funding measure, calling it a “betrayal” and suggesting it could weaken the “trust” between House and Senate Democrats.
Democratic voters, too, said they were dismayed by Schumer’s approach.
“We should have shut the government down,” 55-year-old Marc Borzcon of Chandler, Ariz. said on Thursday at the event in Tempe. “I have no doubt in my mind that that was the proper thing to do under the circumstances.”
After hearing Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez speak, Borzcon encouraged Democrats to “fight a little lower.”
“I think we’ve seen the other side continuously break the rules and thumb their nose at the rules. So at some point you got to say, ‘Hey, we don’t play by the rules either,'” he said.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, publicly urged Ocasio-Cortez to launch a primary challenge against Schumer in 2028 if he runs for re-election, and several House Democrats told NBC News that her colleagues also privately pushed her to do so at a party retreat last week.
There is also speculation she could mount a run for president, though her team insists she isn’t thinking about her own political future at the moment.
But the crowd in Las Vegas certainly is: “AOC 2028” pins were being sold at a merchandise stand outside the venue.
Melanie Zanona reported from Las Vegas, Nnamdi Egwuonwu from Tempe, Ariz., and Brennan Leach from Washington, D.C.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
