Bernie Sanders is bringing his national speaking tour back to Iowa next week. The Vermont senator’s “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” event will be held at the River Center, South Building in Davenport on Friday, Aug. 22. Doors open at 4:30 p.m., and the first speaker is scheduled to take the stage at 7 p.m.
Sanders began his tour in February with events in Omaha and Iowa City — cities in congressional districts that voted for Joe Biden in 2020, but are represented in Congress by Republicans. During that two-city swing, Sanders stressed the importance of organizing at the local level to resist the radical actions of the Trump administration and the political influence of the oligarchs backing Trump.
“Now is not the time for despair or feeling helpless,” Sanders told the audience in Iowa City. “Now is the time to stand up, to fight back, to take on Trumpism, and not only to defeat Trumpism, but to create the kind of great nation we know we can become.”
The four-term senator told the capacity crowd at the Englert Theatre that they cannot rely on Democrats in Congress, or independents such as himself, to lead the opposition to Trump.
“Trumpism will not be defeated by politicians inside the D.C. beltway,” Sanders said. “It will only be defeated by millions of Americans in Iowa, in Vermont, in Nebraska, in every state in the country, who come together in a strong grassroots movement, and say no to oligarchy, no to authoritarianism, no to kleptocracy. No to massive cuts in programs that low-income and working Americans desperately need. No to huge tax breaks for the wealthiest people in this country.”
Instead of forcibly “removing the homeless” from DC as Trump wants to do, we need to build millions of affordable housing units in America. Instead of giving tax breaks to Wall Street billionaires who are buying up housing & jacking up rent, we need to put a cap on rent prices.
— Senator Bernie Sanders (@sanders.senate.gov) August 13, 2025 at 1:40 PM
In his Iowa City and Omaha speeches, Sanders encouraged people to oppose President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which contained the program cuts and tax breaks Sanders was describing, as the first step in the fight against oligarchy. Despite massive protests in cities and towns of all sizes across the country, and constituents calling the offices of lawmakers like Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks until the office voicemail box was full day after day, the bill passed with almost every Republican voting in favor of it.
The upcoming segment on Sanders’ speaking tour will address “how we move forward to take on the Oligarchs and corporate interests who have so much power and influence in this country,” according to his site. Following his stop in Davenport, Sanders is scheduled to continue his tour in Viroqua, Wisconsin; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Chicago.
The “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” event in Davenport on Aug. 22 is free, but people wanting to attend must register at BernieSanders.com. The event will be livestreamed on Sanders’ site for those who can’t attend.
