Bernie rails against ‘oligarchy’ in surprise appearance at $600 a ticket music fest

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders evidently missed the hypocrisy in his rant about “oligarchy” to Gen Z concertgoers at a luxury music festival.

In a head-scratching move, the Independent Vermont socialist blasted President Donald Trump and “billionaires” as he appeared on the Coachella stage Saturday. Sanders was joined by Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) at the event, where ticket costs are in the hundreds and attendees can pay thousands to spend the weekend camping in the desert in Indio, CA.

Bernie Sanders making a surprise appearance at Coachella to sermonize on the evils of wealth in front of a crowd of people who paid at least $600 a ticket to be there is peak 21st century Democratic Party pic.twitter.com/53P6TgN4Bq

— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) April 13, 2025

“This country faces some very difficult challenges, and the future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation. Now you can turn away and you can ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do it at your own peril. We need you to stand up, to fight for justice. To fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice,” Sanders said from the stage.

(Video Credit: Bernie Sanders)

“Now we got a President of the United States…” he continued as the crowd began to boo at the mention of Trump.

“I agree,” Sanders said.”He thinks that climate change is a hoax. He is dangerously wrong.”

“You and I are going to have to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and tell them to stop destroying this planet,” he continued, adding comments about protecting women’s rights before railing about the economy “that is working very well for the billionaire class but not for working families.”

Something incredibly ironic about a multi-millionaire who owns three houses and has been a politician for the last 50 years speaking about the evils of “oligarchy” and wealth to a crowd at a music festival that costs at least $1,500 to attend. https://t.co/iyZUngHgq2

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 13, 2025

“We need you to help us to create an economy that works well for everybody, not just the 1%. We have a healthcare system that is broken. We are the only major country not to guarantee healthcare to all people. We need you to stand up to the insurance companies and the drug companies and understand that healthcare is a human right,” continued the former Democratic presidential candidate.

Sanders praised the artist Clairo, who has used her “prominence to fight for women’s rights, to try to end the terrible, brutal war in Gaza, where thousands – thousands of women and children are being killed.”

Sanders earned a wave of criticism on social media.

Nothing says out of touch… like a 442 year old socialist talking to kids on molly at a rock concert

— Dr. Mike Libby MD. Esq. (@BasementLoner) April 13, 2025

Do you know the avg ticket price to attend this event bro?

— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) April 13, 2025

His hypocrisy knows no bounds.

— Joe Varriccio (@MDRoadking) April 14, 2025

So let me get this straight. Bernie Sanders went to Coachella, an event where tickets range from $700-$1,300, and an order of nachos goes for more than $100, to lecture about oligarchy. Is that right?

— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) April 13, 2025

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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