Opinion The Bernie Sanders tour puts California GOP on notice

[Uncle Joe]

Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez keep focus on 2026 midterms

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., at the "Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here" rally at Gloria Molina Grand Park in Los Angeles on April 12. (Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images)

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“Ain’t gonna let those lousy billionaires turn me around,” rally performer Joan Baez crooned, a riff on “[Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody] Turn Me Around” that had attendees screaming.

But Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders clearly had another goal: Keep this crowd activated long enough to oust Republicans from power in the U.S. House. In her remarks under the blaring sun on April 12, the New York congresswoman went directly to the vulnerable Republicans in California who could be the key to a House majority.

“They have been voting, just this week, to advance cuts on hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid and veterans benefits and Social Security,” Ocasio-Cortez said, to boos. “So that they can take that money and give it to the billionaires who elected them in the form of tax cuts and sweetheart government contracts to companies like SpaceX.”

“And you know who voted for that from California, by the way? David Valadao of California’s 22nd, Young Kim of California’s 40th and Ken Calvert of California’s 41st,” Ocasio-Cortez continued — perhaps the first politician I’ve heard use a massive outdoor rally to name district numbers. “They know that it hurts you, but they are not here to serve us, they are here to serve themselves and the billionaires who have paid them: Oligarchy.”

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Christina Bellantoni is a former editor-in-chief of Roll Call and is now a professor of professional practice and the director of the USC Annenberg Media Center. Contact her at [e-mail].