Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has spent much of this year crisscrossing the country on what he calls the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour — a grassroots campaign aimed at rallying Americans against what he describes as a political and economic system in which a handful of billionaires call the shots.
On the newest episode of Katie’s podcast Next Question, Sanders said the response to his nationwide push has been overwhelming. He’s already spoken to more than 300,000 people in 21 states — from Republican strongholds like Iowa to liberal cities in California, where he recently addressed a crowd at the No Kings rally.
And it’s not just progressives showing up. Sanders says Independents and even some Republicans have packed his events, which he sees as a sign of a growing frustration with rising costs, stagnant wages, and concentrated wealth.
“We are living today in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. You’d think most people would feel that — but they don’t. And they don’t because the reality is that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, almost all of the new wealth and income is going to the people on top,” Sanders said, nodding to the theme of his latest book, Fight Oligarchy.
Read on for highlights from the senator’s chat with Katie, and watch their full conversation in the video above.
A grassroots strategy
Sanders believes the country’s economic frustration can be turned into action. “At the end of the day, what history has always told us is that real change… always takes place from the grassroots level,” he said. “It’s when people get mobilized from the bottom up, and not from the top down.”
That bottom-up strategy, he explained, isn’t just rhetorical — it’s tactical. One of his key approaches is to organize in Republican-held districts, particularly those that the GOP won narrowly. His team has intentionally left organizers behind to mobilize communities and pressure elected officials, including over their support for Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which Sanders said slashes Medicaid and raises healthcare costs for millions of Americans.
He’s also investing in building political power from the ground up. “We are right now working with thousands of people, often young people, helping them run for school board, city council, state legislature — whatever it might be at the local level,” Sanders said. “And we’re supporting candidates running for U.S. Senate, governor, [and] House of Representatives.”
Democratic discontent
The senator’s comments come at a moment of deep dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party: Just 38 percent of U.S. adults say they view the party favorably, compared with 43 percent for Republicans, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.
Sanders argues that’s because party leaders are “too much beholden to wealthy corporate interests and not paying attention to the needs of the vast majority of the people, who are struggling, working-class people.”
That critique isn’t new for Sanders — it’s central to his political message. He has long contended that the party is out of step with voters on issues such as healthcare, campaign finance, and the influence of billionaires on both sides of the aisle.
“It’s time to take on the oligarchy and stand up for the working class,” he said.
