A roaring crowd of thousands filled Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Saturday to hear progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders blast President Donald Trump and what he called the billionaire class gripping the nation’s politics. Organizers estimate the crowd numbered between 5,000 and 6,000.

Newsweek reached out to Sanders’ spokesperson via email on Saturday for comment.

Why It Matters

Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral votes, was critical to Trump’s 2024 presidential victory and has reemerged as a decisive swing state heading into the 2026 midterms.

Trump’s surge in support in smaller cities like Allentown and Scranton helped secure the state over Kamala Harris in November, flipping several counties that leaned more Democratic in prior elections.

Sanders’ rally in Bethlehem, located in Lehigh County, which swung over 5 percent more Republican compared to 2020 — highlights progressive efforts to reclaim lost ground among working-class voters in the Rust Belt. His populist economic message appears aimed at those same disillusioned constituents who have drifted away from the Democratic Party in recent years.

What To Know

Lehigh University’s sports arena hosted the 83-year-old independent senator as he made his third Pennsylvania stop in just three days on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.

Speaking just miles from Gettysburg, Sanders invoked Abraham Lincoln’s vision of government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” contrasting it with what he called a modern system run by billionaires.

Sanders name-checked Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta‘s Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, saying all three tech tycoons stood behind Trump at his 2025 inauguration and represent the consolidation of wealth and power undermining democracy.

“Right now, we have a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, for the billionaire class, and we are not going to accept that,” Sanders said, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.

As head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has led the charge on cuts to federal spending, and as the owner of X, formerly Twitter, has made himself a top advocate for the administration’s policies through his prolific social media activity.

Sanders criticized both Trump and Democratic leadership, saying the latter’s failure over the past half-century to stand up for working Americans helped pave the way for Trump’s rise. He condemned cuts to Medicaid, threats to Social Security, and growing corporate influence in Washington.

What People Are Saying

Senator Bernie Sanders took to X, formerly Twitter on Saturday: “More than 5,000 people came out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to stand up for the needs of working families against the billionaire class, against powerful special interests, against enormous corporate greed, and against Trump’s authoritarianism.”

He added: “That’s what this movement is about.”

Anna Bahr, director of communications for Sanders, told Newsweek in an email on Friday: “The arrogance, selfishness, greed, and exploitation of the current oligarchic regime – as personified by Elon Musk, but also by many other billionaires like Zuckerberg, Bezos, etc – have generated a period of populist revolt that unites working people across the political spectrum.”

Billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk on Sanders’ recent Denver, Colorado rally in a March 23 X post: “The Dems just move around the same group of paid ‘protesters.'” In a separate post on April 11, Musk wrote: “Bernie is just fully communist.”

Sanders told rallygoers at Saturday’s “Fighting Oligarchy” event in Bethlehem: “The Democratic Party is going to finally have to say, ‘We’re going to stand with those people. We are prepared to take on the greed of corporate America.'”

What Happens Next

Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour is expected to continue drawing national attention as Democrats assess how to rebuild a fractured coalition in time for the 2026 midterms.