At a "Fight Oligarchy" event in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke about the rise of 'oligarchy' in the United States.
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00:00So why are we here in LA today? And the answer is obvious. We are living in a moment of extraordinary
00:12danger. And how we respond to this moment will not only impact our lives, but will impact
00:24the lives of our kids and future generations. And in terms of the climate, it will depend,
00:34we can depend on whether or not the planet Earth survives. That's why we're here today.
00:45We're living in a moment where a handful of billionaires control the economic and political
00:54life of our country. We're living in a moment with a president who has no understanding
01:03or respect for the Constitution of the United States. And let us make no doubt about it,
01:14moving us rapidly toward an authoritarian form of society. And Mr. Trump, we ain't going
01:26there. We are living in a moment where the Republican Party has, to a large degree, become a cult of
01:40the individual, obeying Trump's every wish. And at a time of massive income and wealth inequality,
01:51right now, as we speak, they are plotting about how they can give $1.1 trillion in tax breaks
01:58to the 1% and devastate programs that working families need.
02:03You know, it's funny, just yesterday, our good friend Elon Musk, Mr. Musk sent out a tweet. And in essence,
02:23he said, you know, Bernie Sanders has been talking about the growth of oligarchy year after year after year.
02:31Well, Elon, you're damn right. That's what I've been talking about.
02:42The difference is, I'm no longer talking about how we're moving to oligarchy. I'm talking about how we are living today in an oligarchic form of society.
02:53Three months ago, when Trump was inaugurated, standing right behind them, during his inauguration, were the three wealthiest people in this country, Mr. Musk, Mr. Bezos, and Mr. Zuckerberg.
03:12And right behind them were 13 other billionaires who Trump had nominated to head up major federal agencies.
03:28And that, brothers and sisters, is what oligarchy is all about.
03:37And that's the.
03:42Now, we're going to decide why.
03:49And the.
03:50And that's why, brother.
03:52And of course, we're going to try to get to help.
03:55And so we're going to try to tell him how he might be doing all these things, right?
03:58Let's see.
03:59So there's going to be a thing that's going to be a battle for you, but we're going to try to get to help you.