‘We have to seize this moment’: Sanders, Deluzio bring ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour to Harrisburg

As part of a nationwide tour pushing back against the policies of the Trump administration, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders joined forces with U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio in Pennsylvania’s capital city Friday to rally against President Donald Trump’s efforts to remake the federal government and erode democratic norms.

The event, held at Harrisburg’s Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, is the latest stop on Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which has drawn massive crowds at stops in California, Arizona, Idaho and Utah, among other states. Sanders also appeared in Philadelphia on Thursday for a May Day rally outside of Philadelphia City Hall that saw roughly 5,000 people attend.

“What we are hearing loudly and clearly is the American people say ‘no’ to oligarchy, say ‘no’ to authoritarianism, and say ‘no’ to an economy in which the rich are getting richer or working people are struggling,” Sanders said on Friday.

Among those Sanders took aim at: unpaid White House adviser Elon Musk, who spearheaded the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency and has championed its questionable efforts to cut federal government spending. Sanders said Musk’s influence is an example of the nation’s flawed campaign finance system. “Everybody understands that we have a corrupt campaign finance system. Now think about it. Think about the fact that Mr. Musk himself contributed $270 million to get Trump elected again. Then, for his reward, he becomes the most powerful person in government.”

Sanders also focused on Trump's use of executive power in his second term. “It is not just oligarchy and the power of the billionaire class that we are fighting. We are today taking on a president who, in an unprecedented way, is undermining our Constitution and threatens our freedom of speech and assembly; a president whose agents are rounding up innocent people right off of the streets, throwing them into unmarked vans and putting them in detention centers in this country and abroad,” he said.

“That is what happens in dictatorships, not democracies,” Sanders added. “President Trump, we are not going to allow you to create an authoritarian society here in America.”

Deluzio, who is also slated to speak at Saturday’s tour stop in Bethlehem, said oligarchs and “phony patriots” are waging war on the American Dream.

“It sure as hell wasn’t patriotic to pardon Jan. 6 rioters and cop beaters. It’s not patriotic to gut Social Security. It’s not patriotic to cut Veterans Affairs and veterans’ care,” Deluzio said. “It is not patriotic to let bought-and-paid-for politicians – like pigs at the trough – feed on corporate money, which we see in our politics. Every day, every darn day, these phony patriots … they are waging war on the American dream. I’ll tell you what’s patriotic: standing your ground and fighting back.”

In an election cycle marked by Republican victories up and down the ballot, Deluzio, a former U.S. Navy officer, fended off a challenge last November from the Republican Party nominee, then-state Rep. Rob Mercuri, in the state’s 17th Congressional District. “I’ll tell you, corporate bosses and their bootlicker Republican politicians, they spent millions, millions trying to beat me in two elections. They didn’t win, did they?” Deluzio quipped. 

“I wore the uniform. I was willing to risk my life for this country. I see clearly what they are doing that threatens us here at home – that our freedom is at risk,” he added. “We have to seize this moment, beat back this corporate power, build a more free, more just, more prosperous America.”

Other speakers at Friday’s event included Democratic state Rep. Nate Davidson, Central Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council President Jim Enders, and Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Angela Ferritto and Secretary-Treasurer Maurice Cobb. 

The rally also featured musical performances from singer Marissa Paternoster, the former lead guitarist and singer for Screaming Females, and Havertown-based singer-songwriter Alex G.

Much of the rhetoric at Friday’s rally characterized the current political moment as a struggle between the working class and the elites, with speakers noting that voters could learn from the history of the labor movement to effectively organize in today’s environment.

“We must stand together to take back the political power that the billionaire class has used against us to restore freedom and democracy,” said Cobb. “It’s going to take all of us, trusting each other, fighting for as long as it takes. I know we can do it, because this kind of unity is exactly the foundation that the labor movement was built on years ago.

“These oligarchs might have the money and the control, but we have the power,” he added. “Nothing moves without the working class. Everything good we have is because people fought and died for our rights.”

Ferritto encouraged rallygoers to exercise their collective power throughout Trump’s second term. “The one thing I know is that the power is always in the people,” she said.

“These money-hungry oligarchs, who believe that taking away all things that make our nation great so that they can line their pockets, are the problem,” Ferritto added. “This is our country, and I’ve got news for anyone who thinks that we are just gonna lay down and let them take it: Pennsylvania is the firewall, and we are not going to let them take it.”

Davidson said today’s political climate requires voters to hold billionaires seeking to influence the political process to account. “My friends, we find ourselves again in a ‘We the People’ moment. Once again, it is all of us versus the wealthy few,” Davidson said. “Once again, in America, those billionaires are coming for us. They’re coming for our health care, our retirement, our kids’ education. They’re coming for the right to due process,” he said.

He touted legislation he introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, House Bill 1327, which would prohibit individuals from offering monetary prizes in exchange for people registering to vote – a reference to Musk’s $1 million giveaways during the 2024 election cycle. If signed into law, violators would face a first-degree misdemeanor penalty, a minimum $10,000 fine and up to five years in prison.

Republicans suggested that Friday’s lineup proves the party is out of touch with voters. 

“Democrats in Pennsylvania are in complete disarray, doubling down with out-of-touch candidates who support biological men in girls’ sports, free healthcare for illegals, and allowing illegals to decide our elections,” Maureen O’Toole, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, said in a statement about the tour stop. “If this clown show is their best plan to beat Scott Perry, we have no notes.”