Sanders surprises Coachella, tells fans not to ignore ‘dangerously wrong’ Trump
‘You can turn away and you can ignore what goes on but if you do that, you do it at your own peril,’ the senator warned in his speech.
US Senator Bernie Sanders became one of Coachella’s top cameos so far, drawing a massive crowd on Saturday as he made a pit stop at the premier music festival.
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Screaming fans sprinted over, camera phones in hand, to capture the politician’s unannounced speech that followed a blockbuster set from superstar Charli XCX at a neighbouring stage.
“I’m not gonna be long but this country faces some very difficult challenges and the future of what happens to America depends on your generation. You can turn away and ignore what goes on but you do it at your own peril. We need you to stand up to fight for justice,” Sanders said to raucous cheers at the major California desert double weekend that marks the unofficial start of music festival season.
Earlier in the day, Sanders and Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a rally that organisers said drew 36,000 people, a stop on their own “Fighting Oligarchy” tour that featured musicians including Neil Young, Maggie Rogers and Joan Baez.
Speaking under a full moon at Coachella, Sanders delivered urged crowds to stand up against billionaires, health insurance companies and US President Donald Trump’s administration.
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“Now we’ve got a president of the United States,” Sanders began, before the crowd’s boos quickly drowned out Trump’s name.