Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders told thousands Monday that the United States faces “dangerous” times that require progressive leadership during an appearance with Maine political leaders at the Cross Insurance Arena on Monday in Portland.
“This is an unprecedented and in fact dangerous moment in American history, and we have got to respond in an unprecedented way,” Sanders told the crowd. “The way we respond is to build the kind of strong, progressive, grassroots movement the likes of which this country has never seen.”
Sanders spoke in support of U.S. Senate hopeful Graham Platner, a Sullivan Democrat challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, and Maine gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, an Allagash Democrat, who both appeared at the event.
Platner, 40, is a former U.S. marine and oyster farmer who announced his run for Collins’ seat last month. Jackson, 57, is a former logger and longtime Maine legislator who received Sanders’ endorsement days after tossing his hat into a crowded race for governor.
They each decried rising income inequality, the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration and what they said was a rising oligarchy in the U.S., with power controlled by a small group.
“It’s easy to talk about Russia being an oligarchic society,” Sanders said. “But guess what? In a nation in which we have a handful of billionaires controlling our economy, controlling our media, controlling our government, we are living in an oligarchy.”
Jackson touted the accomplishments of organized labor and decried the increasing costs of buying a home, raising a family and just living in Maine, telling the crowd “the status quo (is) not working for us.”
“The only way to build our future, the future that we want, is to build it for ourselves,” Jackson said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders hugs Troy Jackson after Jackson introduced Sanders at his Fighting Oligarchy rally Monday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
Platner condemned the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants and LGBTQ+ Americans and spoke about the rich “extracting wealth out of working Americans” through what he described as “a system that is functioning exactly as it is intended.”
“We live in a system that has been built by the political class to enrich and support millionaires on the backs of working people,” Platner said. “Democrats are part of the same corporate apparatus that the Republicans are.”
Sanders, Platner and Jackson have each branded themselves as “outsiders” at a moment of reckoning for the Democrat Party, which is historically unpopular according to national polling — just 24% of voters view the party favorably, a CNBC poll released last month found.
Platner has been openly critical of the party since launching his campaign. He has called out Democrats online and in interviews for “doing jack” to oppose the Trump administration, income inequality and other issues. It was a primary theme of his speech on Monday.
“Much of the world that we have today is the specific result of policy choices made by establishment politicians. And the shame in the truth of all of this is that the blame cannot simply be left at the feet of one political party,” Platner told the crowd.
Graham Platner speaks to a crowd of over 6,000 before Sen. Bernie Sanders gets on stage Monday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer) Brianna Soukup
Some conservatives have dubbed Platner “Maine’s Mamdani” for his populist politics and slick social media presence, referring to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, whose online engagement was largely credited with his surprising victory in the city’s Democratic primary. Platner said the label is “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard” in an interview with the Press Herald.
“I don’t think Mr. Mamdani spends his weekends in the gun range. I also get the vibe that he’s not sitting around drinking Miller Lite with a bunch of Trump voters,” Platner said. “If you try to do a single thing for working class people in this country, Republicans are going to label you some kind of hardcore communist.”
Lori Uhland, right, hugs Debra Tsampas, who dressed as the Statue of Liberty, at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Fighting Oligarchy rally Monday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. Uhland said she grew up in New Jersey and saw the Statue of Liberty often when riding the ferry. She asked to hug Tsampas because they both got slightly emotional when speaking. “That is why we’re all here,” Uhland said. “Our liberty is being yanked away from us.” (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
Sanders won Maine’s Democratic caucuses in 2016 but lost the national primary. He narrowly lost the state in 2020 to eventual President Joe Biden.
Sanders spoke in Portland last summer about organizing working class voters around “an aggressive progressive agenda.” His speech Monday invoked similar themes, decrying “an economic system, which for the working class of this country is broken.”
“In order to be successful politically, we need to do what the Democratic Party leadership does not, which is have a vision of where we want this country to be,” Sanders said.
Attendees line up on Spring Street before doors open at the Fighting Oligarchy rally Monday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
Upwards of 6,000 people attended the rally, according to organizers. Hundreds were lined up and down Spring Street for hours before doors opened.
Singer-songwriter Josh Ritter opened the event with an acoustic performance. The rally was another stop in Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which a spokesperson said has drawn hundreds of thousands of attendees to events across 18 states. Sanders, 83, had arrived from another rally at the New Hampshire State House earlier that day.
