Chuck Darwin<p>On the road for democracy and justice -- Bernie Sanders</p><p>I will be doing town meetings in Omaha, Nebraska, this Friday night and Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday morning. <br>Further, in the coming weeks and months, I and other progressives will be holding grassroots events from coast to coast.<br>Why, at this moment, are we doing town meetings around the country❓<br> – especially in conservative areas? <br>The answer is obvious.<br>⭐️Trumpism will not be defeated by politicians inside the DC beltway. <br>It will only be defeated by millions of Americans, in every state in this country, coming together in a strong, grassroots movement which says no to oligarchy, <br>no to authoritarianism, <br>no to kleptocracy, <br>no to massive cuts in programs that working people desperately need, <br>no to huge tax breaks for the richest people in our country. </p><p>And that’s what these events are about.<br>Further, there are a number of congressional districts where Republicans won by only a small number of votes. <br>With the Republican party in the House having only a three-vote majority we can defeat draconian, anti-working-class legislation if just two Republican members of Congress vote no. <br>💥And they will vote no if we rally their constituents to demand that they vote no.</p><p>Can Trumpism be defeated? <br>--Absolutely! </p><p>But, if we’re going to make that happen, we need to know exactly what we’re up against and how we can best go forward. <br>Here’s just some of what we need to know:<br>Trumpism has an unlimited amount of <a href="https://c.im/tags/money" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>money</span></a> to throw into its efforts. <br>Elon Musk, the wealthiest man on earth, put more than $270m into Donald Trump’s campaign, a tiny portion of his fortune. <br>Other multibillionaires will join Musk in spending whatever it takes.</p><p>Trumpism has significant control over large parts of the <a href="https://c.im/tags/media" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>media</span></a> from which millions of Americans get their information. <br>Fox and Musk’s platform X, among others, are not normal media outlets. <br>Their basic function is not to cover the “news” but to spread rightwing extremist ideology.</p><p>Trumpism is utilizing the concept of the “<a href="https://c.im/tags/big" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>big</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/lie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>lie</span></a>” in a way that has never, in this country, been seen. <br>Day after day, blatantly dishonest statements and conspiracy theories are propagated – and repeated over and over and over again.</p><p>Trumpism does not believe in <a href="https://c.im/tags/democracy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>democracy</span></a> or the rule of <a href="https://c.im/tags/law" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>law</span></a>. <br>Trump recently posted: <br>“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” <br>In other words, Trump believes that he can do anything he wants for any reason. <br>He can ignore Congress or the courts. He is above the law.</p><p>❇️But, while Trump consolidates power into his own hands, there is another reality going on.<br>Today, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck; <br>millions are earning starvation wages; <br>85 million are uninsured or under-insured; <br>young people are unable to afford the cost of college; <br>25% of seniors live on $15,000 a year or less; <br>we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth, <br>and we have a major shortage in low-income and affordable housing.</p><p>Oh, and by the way, we’re losing the struggle against the <a href="https://c.im/tags/climate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>climate</span></a> crisis <br>– an existential threat to the future of the planet.</p><p>And here’s the kicker. While Trump moves us away from democracy, <br>while the middle class continues to decline,<br>🔥 the wealthiest people in the country have never ever had it so good. <br>Today, the three major oligarchs, Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, are worth $905bn<br> – that is more wealth than the bottom half of American society<br> – 170 million people. <br>⚠️And, incredibly, since Trump’s election their wealth has grown by $217bn.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/19/trumpism-bernie-sanders?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/commentisfree/</span><span class="invisible">2025/feb/19/trumpism-bernie-sanders?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</span></a></p>