The liberal response to Donald Trump and Elon Musk seizing power in the U.S. has been tepid at best. While the Democratic Party puts up a mostly symbolic fight, clinging to legal mechanisms that their fascist opponents comfortably ignore, the rights of many Americans continue to evaporate. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VA) is now speaking out against both the president and his billionaire allies. From the hostile takeover of the U.S. Treasury to barring congresspeople from the U.S. Department of Education’s headquarters in D.C., authoritarianism is on the uptick. Sanders warns there’s more to come.
Bernie Sanders Warns of Actions by Musk and Trump
In the brief period since Trump returned to office, he and his oligarch friends have targeted a long list of federal aid programs designed to help those in need. Musk and his team seized control of the U.S. Treasury. They fired federal employees en masse, froze government funding, and paralyzed USAID. A great deal of basic federal infrastructure suffered the same fate, as Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seized the reins of the Office of Personnel Management.
Bernie Sanders made his issue with Musk clear in a recent Instagram post. “Next, [Musk will] go after the programs that impact you: Medicaid, Medicare, community health centers, Pell Grants, affordable housing. We can stop him.”
DOGE vs. the U.S.
The senator’s warning is apt. Dismantling federal systems and targeting federal employees has been the heart of DOGE’s work thus far. Sanders expanded on his point in a post on X, saying,
The worst fear that the ruling class in this country has is that Americans come together to demand a government that represents all of us, not just the wealthy few.
If you’ve ever seen the photo of police hauling Sanders away during a 1963 civil rights protest, you’ll know how long he’s been fighting for equality. It’s a political mission that puts him in direct opposition to billionaire oligarchs like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Still, social media reaction to Sanders’s statements has been mixed, with some commenters expressing concern over U.S. fascism but accusing the senator of doing too little to stop it.
Bernie Sanders isn’t shying from the challenge, but it seems increasingly obvious that the liberal strategies of debate, legislation, and litigation aren’t working to combat the fascist threat. Direct action, organizing, and community activism are key, however, making Sanders’s demand that “Americans come together” more pertinent than ever.
