Rock icon Neil Young led a crowd gathered at Gloria Molina Grand Park in Los Angeles Saturday with a chant of “take America back” in footage captured by Jonathan Serviss for KNX News.
He was part of a group gathered for the LA “Fighting Oligarchy” tour stop organized by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). According to the senator’s website, he’s hit the road to “have real discussions across America on how we move forward to take on the Oligarchs and corporate interests who have so much power and influence in this country.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was another special guest at the event, as well as legendary folk singer Joan Baez and musician Maggie Rogers. People began gathering for the event at 9 a.m.
Attendees filled the park near Civic Center, holding signs with messages like: “We don’t want Greenland we want healthcare,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s proposal to buy that country.
In his address to the crowd, Sanders said that the U.S. Constitution established a form of government with a “separation of powers.”
“They wrote that document because they had just fought a brutal war against the autocratic king of England. And what they understood is, they were forming this new country – that they never wanted to see a nation where one person had unlimited power,” he said. “Well, Trump wants that power. We are not giving it to him.”
Trump began his second term just a few months ago after winning the November election with majorities in both the Electoral College and the popular vote, unlike his first term. However, some of his choices – including appointing his multi-billionaire advisor Elon Musk to cut government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and beginning an ongoing tariff war – have been controversial.
This week, an Economist/YouGov poll found that Trump’s job approval rating had declined with 51% of Americans polled saying that they disapproved of his job performance, down five points compared to the previous week. That poll covered more than 1,700 U.S. adult citizens from April 5 to April 8, even before the stock market roller coaster ride triggered by the tariffs continued through the end of this week.
Results also found that Democrats are concerned that Trump will try to seek a third term in office despite term limits on the presidency, with 70% saying they believe he will attempt it, compared to 34% of Republicans. Only 36% of Republicans think Trump should try to serve a third term, and a mere 3% of Democrats think he should.
Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour will continue this month with events in Salt Lake City, Utah; Nampa, Idaho; Bakersfield, Calif.; Folsom, Calif., and Missoula, Mont.