Source: Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty
Bernie Sanders’ surprise appearance at the Coachella festival was cheered and jeered by some on social media.
As the Coachella music festival took place last Saturday night (April 12), singer and songwriter Clairo took the stage alongside Democratic Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida. Moments later, Frost introduced Senator Bernie Sanders to a surprised crowd.
https://x.com/BernieSanders/status/1911268414456549619
“I wanted to thank Clairo for allowing me to get up here and to thank this guy, you may or may not know him, but Maxwell Frost, he’s a member of the United States Congress, the youngest and in my view one of the best members,” Sanders began. “I’m not going to be long but this is what I want to say. This country faces some very difficult challenges, and the future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation.”
Sanders spoke about the need for those in the crowd to fight “for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice.” As he mentioned President Donald Trump in his remarks, the crowd booed lustily. “I agree,” Sanders replied. “He [Trump] thinks that climate change is a hoax. He is dangerously wrong. And you and I are gonna have to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and tell them to stop destroying this planet.” He would close his remarks by praising Clairo for her support for women’s rights and the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Sanders’ appearance occurred on the same day that he and Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared at a rally on their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour in Los Angeles. The 83-year-old independent senator representing Vermont has appeared at Coachella before, introducing Run The Jewels before their set in 2016.
The surprise showing by Sanders received detraction from users on social media, particularly on X, formerly, Twitter. Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro called Sanders out in a post, blaming him for divisiveness in comparison to Trump’s appearance at a UFC fight the same night bringing “people together automatically and they spontaneously started patriotically cheering “USA” in unison.”
Many more applauded Sanders’ outreach to the Coachella crowd, feeling it was another good move by Democratic politicians and those aligned with them to rally support from the public. “I expect to see more organic engagement like this from Dems this year as they work to rebrand,” said writer Rachel Janfaza.