Bernie Sanders has long been amassing crowds at his political rallies throughout the nation, but he might have drawn his biggest audience yet via a surprise appearance at Coachella last night, introducing indie artist Clairo and making an urgent plea to young people to “fight for justice.”
The leftist senator from Vermont began his address by thanking the “Bags” singer-songwriter for the invite and introducing Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, who joined him onstage.
“This country faces some very difficult challenges, and the future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation,” Sanders told the jubilant crowd. “Now you can turn away and ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do it at your own peril. We need you to stand up and fight for justice, to fight for economic justice, social justice and racial justice.”
Continuing on, Sanders referenced POTUS, whose name elicited strong boos from the audience. Pausing, Sanders added, “I agree.”
In the five-minute-long speech, the once-Democratic presidential candidate also addressed climate change, women’s reproductive rights, wealth inequality and healthcare inaccessibility.
“We have an economy today that is working very well for the billionaire class, but not for working families,” he said. “We need you to help us to create an economy that works well for everybody, not just the 1%.”
The senator continued, “We have a healthcare system that is broken. We are the only major country not to guarantee healthcare to all people. We need you to stand up to the insurance companies and the drug companies and understand that healthcare is a human right.”
Sanders then introduced Clairo on stage, and thanked her for “not only being in a great band, but for the great work she is doing,” saying that the musician 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.”
In the video and social media posts made by Clairo, the two could be seen embracing, with her affectionately dubbing the moment “Berniechella.”
The no-nonsense Sanders, who is 83, made the appearance after a huge rally also featuring New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Los Angeles’ Gloria Molina Grand Park earlier in the day, which drew a crowd of 36,000 who, as he posted to his Instagram story, “came out to say NO to oligarchy and NO to a rigged economy.” The two will continue on with their Fighting Oligarchy tours in Utah today, followed by stops in Idaho, California and Montana.
