CHICAGO—The task facing the people’s and democratic movements in the 2024 elections is clear, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders: Trump has to be beaten in order to block fascism. After that, it’s time to take on what he called “uber capitalism” and the big money oligarchy controlling the United States.
Vermont’s independent socialist senator brought that message to a meeting of progressive and labor movement activists in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. Sanders was the keynote speaker Monday at Progressive Central, the left-wing hub hosted by Progressive Democrats of America at the Chicago Teachers Union building.
“Where we are at this moment,” Sanders said, “is that Trump has to be defeated.” He told his audience that the threat from a Republican Party captured by its MAGA faction is too dangerous to ignore. If progressives are serious about making gains, he argued, they can neither sit this election out nor entertain third party vanity campaigns.
“Trump has taken over and transformed the Republican Party” into a fascist party, according to Sanders. Referring to Trump’s recent claim that a full-capacity Kamala Harris rally was “AI,” Sanders said it “takes a certain chutzpah to tell people what they saw with their own eyes on live TV didn’t happen.”
While many news commentators made light of Trump’s absurd allegation that Harris’ large crowds were all computer-generated, Sanders issued a warning. “The danger is that if you can convince a certain segment of the American population that 15,000 people at a rally didn’t exist, then it won’t be hard to convince them that a Trump election loss in a place like Wisconsin didn’t really happen either.”
When there are masses who “believe the only words of truth are those that come from their leader’s mouth, then you have the formula for fascism.”
Stopping Trump must be the immediate goal of progressives and labor, but when that is accomplished, there can be no de-mobilization of left forces, the senator urged.
“Once Harris and Walz are elected, we have to continue strengthening and building our movements,” Sanders urged, “because the reality is that both of the parties are controlled by big money interests.”
That assertion was the bridge toward what Sanders outlined as the next big challenge—taking on capitalism and the concentration of economic and political power in the super-rich elite.
While his speech wasn’t the “communism” or “Marxism” that Trump and the Republicans have tried to claim is on display at the DNC, it certainly sounded an anti-capitalist note.
“We’ve made some major gains in recent decades,” Sanders said, listing several wins against racism, sexism, and homophobia, even if they’ve been uneven and incomplete. But, he said, “there is one area where we’re not gaining ground, where we’re actually losing, and that’s the economic struggle.
“We’re rapidly moving toward an oligarchic society, but we can’t talk about it because the money that controls our Congress is the same money that controls our media,” he declared.
The advance of Trump’s fake right-wing populism and the ever-increasing power of the capitalist ruling class are closely intertwined, Sanders argued. “You want to know why Trump has the support of a lot of working-class people across the country?” he asked.
For the answer, it’s only necessary to survey the last several decades of economic policy in the U.S., he said, which has been defined by round after round of deindustrialization, tax cuts for the wealthy, shrinking social programs and benefits, and the weakening of workers’ rights in the face of an endless corporate assault.
“Today, after you adjust for inflation, the average worker is earning less than they did 50 years ago. Jobs go overseas as bosses chase lower wages, companies bust unions, and the corporate-controlled media tells us we’re not allowed to be outraged about inequality; we’re not allowed to be angry about the fact that 60% of workers in this country live paycheck-to-paycheck.”
One bright spot, though, Sanders said, is “the rebirth and revitalization of the trade union movement.” Pointing to the strike waves and organizing drives that have swept the country as of late, Sanders said, “It’s a big deal.”
He said the growing class consciousness of workers was best symbolized by the image of United Auto Workers leader Shawn Fain walking into a bargaining session with General Motors bosses while wearing a t-shirt saying, “Eat the Rich.” More and more workers, he believes, understand their place in the economy “on a class basis.”
Once Trump is defeated and MAGA is turned back, Sanders said workers, people of color, immigrants, and their allies have to make the most of the opportunities that can come during a Harris administration—and beyond.
Citing recent polling done by his campaign showing that overwhelming majorities of Americans—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike—support policies like health care for every person, raising taxes on the super-rich, increasing the minimum wage, and more, Sanders said it’s necessary for movements to work inside and outside the electoral arena to make them a reality.
“The American people say yes to things like Medicare for All, but I can’t even get that bill onto the floor of a Democratic-controlled Senate because party leaders think it’s too radical—even though 70% or more of the population want it.” He predicted, “You won’t hear too much about Medicare for All these next few nights,” referring to the primetime televised sessions of the DNC.
“That’s our struggle,” Sanders said. “It’s against the corporate class, against the oligarchy, against media monopoly, against the Republican Party, and yes, against the Democratic establishment, too.”
Pointing to the multiparty systems of many European nations, he said, “They’ve got a different set-up, it might make winning progressive gains easier. But here, our reality is the two-party system, so our job” when it comes to the electoral side of the struggle at the national level, “is to open up the Democratic Party as much as possible and make it more progressive.”
The question left and labor activists face in the near term, he said, “is whether we will have a top-down Democratic Party or a grassroots party where people get their hands dirty and do coalition politics.”
Combined with building political independence, Sanders said there is a path forward for the movements. “It comes down to the old maxim: Follow the money.” Committing to fight against inequality and capitalist oligarchy is a winning strategy, he asserted, and the Harris-Walz campaign should not be afraid to embrace that struggle.
“The people at the top have never had it so good. They own our workplaces, they own our media, and they control both parties. The American people want leaders and policies that take on the greed of the oligarchy.”
“The movements capable of blocking Trump’s fascism and challenging capitalist greed,” Sanders argued, “are one and the same. We have to keep building and growing them.”
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