Bernie Sanders brings ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour to Philadelphia for May Day

Just days after President Donald Trump marked the 100th day of his second term in office, a crowd of roughly 5,000 rallygoers flooded the streets around Philadelphia City Hall as part of the May Day 2025 protest against his agenda. 

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, brought his “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” tour to Pennsylvania this week, with Thursday’s stop in Philadelphia kicking off a short stint of rallies throughout the commonwealth against Trump’s agenda. 

Before the rally kicked off, a New Jersey man waving an American flag upside down, who identified himself as Manny, said he wants to see more young people out at events and rallies. 

“I’m too old to be doing this shit,” Manny, who said he’s been at protests since the Trump administration took office this year, told City & State. “People are more pissed off. We’re seeing our democracy slip away.”

A coalition of labor unions, workers’ rights organizations, immigrant rights groups and community advocates gathered well before the 4 p.m. start time of the rally, with road closures and a significant police presence surrounding City Hall in anticipation of the crowd. 

Labor and faith leaders – including Philadelphia AFL-CIO President Dan Bauder and POWER Interfaith Executive Director Rev. Dr. Greg Edwards – said the protests’ diverse group of organizers and attendees demonstrates working-class solidarity across backgrounds. 

“History also shows us that when labor and faith (groups) come together, mountains can be moved, wages can be raised, policies can be changed,” Edwards said Thursday. “We are calling for a moral revolution, a revolution rooted in love, a revolution rooted in justice.”

There were also participants from Unite Here! 274, AFSCME DC 47, AFSCME DC 33, SEIU 32BJ, National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania leading the chants and the march. 

Sanders, talking about the influence corporate interests have in the country, said May Day is a “sacred holiday” for the working class. 

“Today, we remember the struggles and the sacrifices of workers for hundreds of years who have stood up to powerful special interests to create a better world,” Sanders told the crowd. “I want you all to remember the fact that we have a Social Security system today which guarantees benefits to our older people and disabled did not happen by accident. The trade union movement made it happen.”

Sanders reiterated some of his best-known talking points from stump speeches, including that the ultra-wealthy and corporations must “pay their fare share” to address the country’s inequality. 

“We still have an enormously important road forward if we’re going to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the few,” he added before ending with a call to action. 

“If we stand together around the progressive agenda, if we start electing candidates who work for us and not the billionaire – if we think big and not small, brothers and sisters – there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”

Following remarks from Sanders, labor leaders and local organizers, the rallygoers marched north to the intersection of Broad and Vine streets, where many attendees attempted to block the busy intersection during rush hour to draw attention to the cause. 

The large rally around City Hall was one of several protests across Philadelphia Thursday, with pro-immigration groups standing outside the federal courthouse as the appeals court considers the legality of neighboring New Jersey’s ban on migrant-detention centers. 

Thursday’s May Day actions, which took place in more than 1,000 cities across all 50 states, were organized by a coalition called May Day Strong, a national labor and immigrant rights coalition comprising over 200 grassroots organizations. 

Other events – often associated with the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour led by Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – have continued to bring out significant crowds in both urban and rural areas. In addition to being a high-profile response to the series of highly unpopular – and in many cases, illegal or unconstitutional – actions by the administration, the protests are a clear rebuke of the Democratic Party and its continued inability to devise coherent strategies for both opposing the president and proposing a way forward.

Sanders is expected to speak alongside U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democrat who represents Pennsylvania’s 17th District in Southwestern Pennsylvania, at a rally in Harrisburg on Friday and in Bethlehem on Saturday.