The Revolution Will Have a Cover Charge? Senator Bernie Sanders Makes Surprise Appearance at Top-Dollar CA Music Festival, Preaching “Fight Oligarchy” to Wealthy Concertgoers

Sen. Bernie Sanders warned against tuning out politics lest they risk “their own peril” at the Indio event and urged attendees, who coughed up more than $600 each, to “fight the oligarchy.”

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders surprised many on Saturday April 12 with his guest appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, taking the opportunity to attack the Trump administration, before welcoming singer Clairo.

“This country faces some very difficult challenges,” Sen. Sanders warned the massive crowd in Indio, alarming them that choosing to turn away and ignore what goes on” in politics will be at the expense of “their own peril.”

Escorted by Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), the youngest and first Gen Z member of Congress at 28, Sanders urged Coachella to “fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice,” and specified reproductive rights. Signaling Frost’s home state of Florida, he commanded the young audience to “stand up and fight” against pro-life lawmakers in state legislatures nationwide.

Sen. Sanders was the guest of honor for indie pop artist Clairo before her set at the music festival, who he thanked for her political activism favoring abortion and her outspoken criticism of the Gaza-Israel conflict. Clairo had condemned the Dobbs decision in 2022, and has contributed to benefits and raised money for relief in the Gaza Strip since 2023.

Sanders called for an economy that “works for everybody and not just the 1%,” but was duly asked on X/Twitter: “Do you know the avg ticket price to attend this event bro?” The cognitive dissonance lies in that concertgoers coughed up at minimum $649 each to attend Coachella.

Washington Examiner writer Joe Concha found Sanders’ appearance at the festival tone deaf. “You look at the word elitist, probably your average Coachella attendee; that photo is next to it,” Concha humorously added on Fox News. “The same senator who owns three homes and is worth millions of dollars. The hypocrisy is pure.”

The Vermont senator’s opening act for Clairo was not his only stop in SoCal. Leading off his “Fighting Oligarchy” speaking tour, Sanders along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) spoke to a crowd of at least 36,000 in Los Angeles earlier that same day.

“Money in politics is the hand of oligarchy, Los Angeles” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez insisted repeatedly on Saturday, tying in with the working class ethos concept Sanders' movement is going for. 

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez headed north into Folsom County on their next stop, and additionally plan to take the “Fight Oligarchy” tour all throughout the more red districts across the nation. The latest leg is set to be Wednesday April 16, at the University of Montana.