Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent serving Vermont, made an unexpected appearance at the Coachella music festival in Indio, Calif., on Saturday evening. He offered a stark warning about President Donald Trump during a rousing on-stage speech.
Sanders’ surprise address included calls for the younger generation to “stand up” against the fossil fuel industry, insurance companies, and U.S. states that are looking to roll back abortion rights.
Upon his first mention of the “President of the United States,” the crowd started to boo—a reaction which prompted Sanders to say: “I agree.”
“[Trump] thinks that climate change is a hoax. He’s dangerously wrong,” Sanders warned. “And you and I are going to have to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and tell them to stop destroying this planet.”
The Trump Administration has taken multiple actions that threaten to dismantle climate mitigation efforts since January—from the rollback of protections at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and an Executive Order to increase logging, to mass staff cuts at prominent agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“This country faces some very difficult challenges, and the future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation,” Sanders opened his speech saying, appealing to the younger members of the crowd. “Now you can turn away and ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do so at your own peril. We need you to stand up and fight for justice, to fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice.”
Sanders went on to ask that the crowd “stand up and fight for women’s rights,” and work for economic justice and equality.
“We have an economy today that is working very well for the billionaire class, but not for working families,” Sanders said. Ending on healthcare, he called for the audience “to stand up to the insurance companies and the drug companies and understand that healthcare is a human right.”
Despite earning much applause of his own, Sanders was on stage to introduce singer-songwriter Clairo—born Claire Cottrill—who he praised on account of her own activism.
“I’m here because Clairo has used her prominence to fight for women’s rights, to try to end the terrible, brutal war in Gaza, where thousands of women and children are being killed,” Sanders said.
Earlier in the day, Sanders spoke with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat serving New York, in Los Angeles as a part of their “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.” Their rally drew thousands of attendees, and featured appearances from musicians Maggie Rogers, Neil Young, and Joan Baez. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have been touring the nation in hopes to “take on the Oligarchs and corporate interests who have so much power and influence in this country,” and address the growing influence of billionaires on the U.S. government.
