Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York headlined a “Fight Oligarchy” rally with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in one of many reddest states within the nation on Monday evening, attracting hundreds of individuals.
The occasion attracted not less than 12,500 individuals to the Ford Idaho Heart in Nampa, Idaho, based on organizers. Idaho was the third-strongest state for Donald Trump within the 2024 presidential election, the place he received 66.9% of the vote to Democrat Kamala Harris’ 30.4%. Canyon County, the place the Ocasio-Cortez/Sanders occasion was held, was even redder, with Trump profitable 72.0% of the vote there.
However Ocasio-Cortez’s message acquired a raucous reception within the coronary heart of Trump nation.
“Donald Trump is a criminal who was found guilty of 34 felony counts of fraud. Liable for sexual abuse. Of course, he’s lying and abusing and manipulating the stock market too,” she mentioned. “When he talks about rapists and criminals, he should look in the mirror.”
She criticized the affect of company cash over political votes, noting that too many politicians obtain marketing campaign donations “tied up in pharmaceutical, oil and gas, or defense company stocks.”
Ocasio-Cortez singled out Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her latest purchases of shares after the market took a success from Trump’s tariff bulletins and her profiteering after Trump retreated on the problem.
“How much did you make off of people’s despair? How much did you make off that panic? How much did you make off of that suffering?” she requested, accusing Trump of manipulating the marketplace for his associates.
The congresswoman additionally referred to as out Trump for abducting dissenters and sending them to nations like El Salvador whereas musing about increasing these abuses to People.
“Today, we just saw President Trump express openness to taking U.S. citizens and sending them off, without due process, to foreign prisons. It’s anti-American,” she mentioned.
The rally was one other signal that as Republicans proceed to cover from the general public, refusing to face the backlash from months of hostile actions from Trump and co-President Elon Musk, Democrats and progressives are listening to them.
Ocasio-Cortez has emerged as a pacesetter for Democrats, at the same time as many citizens have soured on the occasion for inadequate opposition to Trump.
In a ballot launched on Sunday by CNN/SSRS, whereas solely 29% of People expressed a good opinion of Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez was the chief whom most Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents mentioned displays the core values of the occasion. She was forward of different notable figures like former President Barack Obama, Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and even latest Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
High Trump administration figures like immigration “czar” Tom Homan have in latest months pushed for Ocasio-Cortez to be silent and cease voicing opposition to Trump. As hundreds in Idaho have now witnessed, she isn’t backing down.
