“You deserve better Idaho,” U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said to a crowd of over 12,000 Idahoans. “They know that’s not what you want, they know it’s deeply unpopular, they know that it hurts the working families of Idaho, but they are not here to serve working families, they are here to serve themselves and to serve the billionaires who came.”
On April 14, 2025, Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Idaho for the “Fighting Oligarchy” rally, calling for political change.
The “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, a political rally led by Sanders, has made its way to 11 different cities in the United States since February, with Nampa being the 12th.
Although Idaho is known as a predominantly red state, where 66.9% of voters supported the Republican party this past presidential election, the Treasure Valley still managed to draw a sold-out crowd.
In Ocasio-Cortez’s speech, she voiced her concern for Idahoans following Sen. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo’s decision to cut Medicaid.
Ocasio-Cortez also highlighted political corruption, criticizing President Donald Trump and accusing billionaires like Senior Advisor to the President Elon Musk for impacting elections.
“For years, we have known that our political system has slowly but surely become dominated by big money and billionaires,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Time after time we’ve seen how our government and laws are more responsive to lobbyists and corporations than the will of everyday people and voters.”
Ocasio-Cortez later argued that billionaires are creating division through a “hurtful agenda” and urged supporters to keep fighting for justice, against inequality and to challenge the political system.
“It’s been the big money playbook, not just now, but it’s been their playbook for decades,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s why Donald Trump is not an aberration, he is the logical inevitable conclusion of an American political system dominated by corporate and dark money.”
Ocasio-Cortez concluded her speech advocating her unity and eliminating division.
“Our goal here today is to commit to building the kind of country that we all deserve, and we will make that promise to take care of each other on our worst days and to share the successes of our best,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Sanders continued to echo Ocasio-Cortez’s speech, advocating for unity as attendees throughout the rally voiced their support for Palestine through flags and chants.
“When we stand together, when we do not allow them to divide us up by the color of our skin or where we were born or our sexual orientation, there is no stopping us,” Sanders said in his speech.
At one point during the rally, a couple of attendees were removed from the event after unveiling a “Free Palestine” flag while chanting the phrase “Free Palestine”— briefly interrupting Sanders’ speech as attendees collectively booed security for escorting out the attendees.
“In a territory of only 2.2 million people, [Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin] Netanyahu has already killed 50,000 Palestinians, wounded over 100,000 and destroyed the entire infrastructure of Gaza,” Sanders said. “I am doing my best to demand not another nickel for Netanyahu.”
James Anderson, one of the attendees, said he traveled from Mountain Home, Idaho, to attend the rally. As a liberal, Anderson said that AOC and Sanders are people who “speak to him” politically.
Anderson expressed he hopes Idahoans will be more open-minded going forward.
“I hope at some point people are able to change their viewpoints on stuff,” Anderson said. “Realize that most people probably have a lot more in common than they do differences and sometimes the whole red versus blue, democrat versus republican is just silly overall.”
Another attendee and first grade teacher at Lewis & Clark Elementary School, Gabi Davis, shared her fear of budget cuts in education.
“I feel like our resources have been getting cut [and] some opportunities that my kids have, they no longer have because of [a] lack of funding,” Davis said. “Going to a low-income school, I’m worried about how that’s going to affect them.”
Attendee Emily Sacco, who lives in the Boise area, shared her fear for the future of the United States as a whole inspired her attendance at the event.
“Considering the state of our country, it is really the first time that I personally have been genuinely scared and worried for the future,” Sacco said. “At the rate that it’s going, it’s not looking good for anyone but the rich, like they’ve [AOC and Sanders] been saying.”
Sacco added that she hopes for more progress in the state of Idaho.
“I hope people can get out of their ‘Oh, this is a red state, and this is how it’s going to go’,” Sacco said.“I feel like people can blindly vote for especially candidates like Trump and just don’t know any of the details of what’s actually going on.”
The “Fighting Oligarchy” tour’s last stop will be in Missoula, Montana on April 16, 2025.
