Bernie Sanders had an eventful trip to Los Angeles this weekend. After speaking at Saturday's stop on his Fighting Oligarchy tour with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he headed out to Indio to introduce Clairo's set at Coachella.
Sanders was introduced by Rep. Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress, and here’s what the Vermont Senator said before Clairo went on:
Look, I'm not gonna be long, but this is what I wanna say: This country faces some very difficult challenges. And the future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation. Now you can turn away and you can ignore what goes on but if you do that, you do it at your own peril. We need you to stand up, to fight for justice. To fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice. Now, we got a president of the United States who's -- [Crowd boos] -- I agree! He thinks that climate change is a hoax. He is dangerously wrong. And you and I, you and I have to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and tell them to stop destroying this planet. All over this country, not in California, not in Vermont where I'm from, but in Florida where Maxwell is from, and many other states, politicians are trying to take away a woman's right to control her own body. We need you to stand up and fight for women's rights. We have an economy today that is working very well for the billionaire class but not for working families. We need you to help us to create an economy that works well for everybody, not just the 1%. We have a health care system that is broken. We are the only major country not to guarantee health care to all people. We need you to stand up to the insurance companies and the drug companies and understand that health care is a human right. Now, I'm here to introduce Clairo. Not just because they are a great band, not only because Clairo at the age of 13 posted videos on the internet as a singer-songwriter. 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. So I want to thank Clairo not only for being in a great band, but for the great work she is doing.
Clairochellaaaaan so fun. Thanks Bernie
— claire cottrill (@clairo) April 13, 2025
Clairo's set also featured a brief reunion of her side project Shelly, a band that includes fellow indie pop singer-songwriter Claud. The whole band came onstage for a rare performance of their viral song "Steeeam."
Before Sanders went to Coachella, his Fighting Oligarchy LA rally -- his biggest rally of the tour yet -- included performances from Neil Young, Jeff Rosenstock, Joan Baez, Maggie Rogers, David Longstreth, Indigo De Souza, last-minute addition Dirty Projectors, and more. You can watch the full thing and see some photos below.
Thank you Los Angeles for our biggest rally ever.
36,000 people came out today to say NO to Trumpism, NO to oligarchy, NO to authoritarianism, and NO to a rigged economy. pic.twitter.com/fxIRmVRgbJ
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 12, 2025
