A recent CNN poll reports that 77% of Democratic voters believe Democrats in Congress are doing too little to oppose Trump’s agenda. Sixty-five percent say that Democratic politicians need to stay principled as opposed to compromising with Trump, double the number from the early days of Trump’s first term. The same poll has the Democratic Party’s overall favorability rating at 29%, the lowest ever since CNN started polling on this question. 

And no wonder. In early February, a Texas Democratic congresswoman went viral for putting words to what millions of ordinary people already knew about the party wandering in the woods while Trump wreaked far-right, authoritarian havoc in his first ten days: “We have no coherent message.”

In early March, when Trump gave his first address to Congress, Democratic congressman Al Green stood up and interrupted him, shouting “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.” Not a single Democrat lifted so much as a pinky to back Green up when he was removed by security—two days later, ten Democrats even voted with the Republicans to censure him. That same day, liberal darling Governor Gavin Newsom said on the first episode of his new podcast that allowing trans athletes to play sports is “deeply unfair,” with far-right activist Charlie Kirk as the central guest. 

Mass anger at the Democrats reached new heights a week later. Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in Congress, jumped ship to back Trump’s spending bill that cut nearly $1 billion from Veterans Affairs and over $1 billion for climate disaster infrastructure, along with many other terrible cuts, while jacking up military spending by $6 billion.

It’s quite possibly never been clearer that the Democrats won’t save us. What’s urgently needed instead is a new, mass working-class party that can challenge the entire pro-capitalist and pro-imperialist political establishment, both Republicans and Democrats. Such a party would need to not just run in elections, but build struggle in the streets, communities, schools, and workplaces against Trump’s far-right authoritarian takeover and for a viable pro-worker alternative—not waiting for the midterms 18 months away but taking on Trump now. 

But is such a party possible? If so, is it possible now? Could Bernie Sanders and AOC’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour be the jumping off point? The anti-Trump movement urgently needs to create space for democratic discussion and debate on this and many other key strategic questions staring us in the face as Trump’s tornado of right-wing attacks continues to pick up speed.

Can the Democrats Rehabilitate?

Five months after Kamala Harris’s stunning defeat, some Democrats are beginning to show signs of life. This ranges from symbolic stunts like Corey Booker’s 25-hour speech in Congress to Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour which has been drawing crowds of tens of thousands at rallies across the Midwest and Southwest. There are also efforts like Pennsylvania congressman Chris Deluzio’s New Economic Patriots, a group of House Democrats who want the party to embrace economic populism. 

The recent special elections in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wisconsin, where whole districts or states that went for Trump in November flipped and went for Democrats, are a clear sign of the growing discontent with Trump and Musk’s billionaire attacks. Since Trump came onto the national political scene ten years ago, Democrats have largely relied on their favorite message: vote for us because we’re not them. It worked in 2020, but it failed in 2016 and 2024, in large part because when the Democrats are in office, they deliver corporate politics that prioritize profits and war over the needs of ordinary people, driving millions of workers further into the arms of the right-wing, which falsely poses as an alternative. 

Different tendencies within the Democratic Party are beginning to emerge which will vie for strategic dominance in their effort to rehabilitate the party’s image after their historic defeat in November. However, rehabilitate their image as they may, in the fight to actually stop Trump’s agenda, no strategy will work that points to a single iota of compromise or conciliation, or that puts hope in the institutions of capitalist government, as opposed to mass working class action and struggle.

Another favorite strategy of the Democrats, is to point toward elections which are years into the future when what’s really needed is mass protest, direct action, and large-scale coordinated strikes in the here and now. But why do the Democrats time and time again avoid this like the plague? Because they know that any mass working class movement which forms to come after Trump will only come after them and their own billionaire backers next.

Fight Oligarchy With Working-Class Unity

What started with a 2,500 person rally in Omaha, Nebraska and turned into 34,000 people in Denver, Colorado, the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour is soon headed to Los Angeles, and more cities after that. Denver was Sanders’ largest rally ever, including during his two presidential campaigns. That tens of thousands are coming out to these events, which are posed explicitly as an alternative to the strategy of do-nothing establishment Democrats like Chuck Schumer, shows just how much of a desire there is to fight Trump’s agenda and frustration at the Democrats’ inaction.

At these rallies, the message is tried-and-true Bernie: wealth and power is concentrated at the top while the majority continue to suffer; Trump, with Musk and their other billionaire buddies behind him, is concentrating authoritarian power in his hands to the detriment of democratic rights and the wellbeing of ordinary people; politics need to be rid of corporate money; contrary to Trump’s faux for-the-people messaging, he is a selfish billionaire who’ll shed no tears if inflation skyrockets and a recession kicks off due to his chaotic tariff war; and so on. These are critical class-based points which need to be front and center in the building of a mass working class movement against Trump 2.0.

In Greeley, Colorado, AOC made the essential point that “The last thing they [the billionaires] want us to realize is that the division that is actually hurting our country the most is how endless greed is costing the lives of everyone else. They want us to think that our lives are suffering because of the LGBT kid down the street, or because of the mixed-status family or the DREAMer down the block who’s just trying to make a better life for themselves… So that they can steal from our healthcare, social security, and veterans benefits to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest and bailouts for their crypto billionaire friends.”

Unfortunately, this is at odds with a recent comment by Sanders in an interview with ABC where he says Trump is right to crack down on illegal immigration and strengthen the border, completely failing to push back on this blatant divide-and-rule tactic of Trump and the right wing that AOC spoke of. Also absent from Sanders’ remarks has been a full-throttle defense of trans rights against Trump’s vicious attacks. While many Democratic strategists draw the conclusion that Democrats lost because they supported trans or immigrant rights too much, it’s vital that Bernie points in a different direction. To really fight oligarchy, we need maximum unity between immigrant and US-born workers, trans and cisgender workers, all workers from all backgrounds against our common enemy—the capitalist system—which uses one group to harm the other, ultimately driving down living standards for both.

A key point also missing from Sanders’ message, both historically and now, is the need to actively oppose U.S. imperialism and the drive to inter-imperialist war currently taking place. The U.S. sending billions upon billions of dollars to Israel and Ukraine to secure its imperialist interests in those regions is in direct conflict with achieving Sanders’ pro-working class policies at home. As the conflict between the two global capitalist superpowers, the U.S. and China, heats up, we need leaders and a working class party that fully opposes the imperialist drive towards war, not give it left cover.

“A Democratic Party That Fights For Us”?

Bernie Sanders coming back onto the scene, bringing out tens of thousands and sharply criticizing the Democratic Party for “abandoning the working class,” has led to much speculation about where he’ll direct the new momentum being built with his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. In late March, the New York Times article, “Bernie Sanders Has an Idea for the Left: Don’t Run as Democrats” gave the impression that Bernie might finally be considering a more decisive break from the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn is considering starting a new party in the UK, and Die Linke (The Left Party) in Germany tripled its vote in the recent German elections, spurred by the dramatic rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. With this taking place in Europe, and while the Democrats fail spectacularly to mount any sort of effective opposition to Trump in the US, a new party in the US would certainly make sense.

But unfortunately, the third time does not appear to be the charm for Bernie. The same day that New York Times article was released, Sanders and AOC did an interview with left podcaster Hasan Piker. Piker asked Sanders if he thinks there’s momentum right now to break through the two-party duopoly and Sanders, interrupting the question, said bluntly and in no uncertain terms, “If you’re asking me do I think we can start a third party tomorrow, I don’t.” Later that night, at a rally in Tempe, Arizona, AOC called for “a Democratic Party that fights for us.” Unfortunately, Sanders and AOC have not learned the lessons of their own failed decade-long effort to reform the Democratic Party.

At every rally, Sanders and AOC push the message that voting is the key way to stop Trump, implicitly pointing toward the midterms in November, 2026. But one need only look at the last 11 weeks to tremble at what can take place in the next 81 weeks if Trump is not decisively challenged by a mass working class movement now. We cannot afford for the sole next step out of the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour rallies to be running for office (something only a tiny proportion of people will do) and voting in the midterms, which are a full 18 months away! 

The overwhelming majority of what Trump is doing will not be reversible simply by changing the composition of the House and Senate. In fact, the vast majority of Trump’s damage is done with the stroke of a pen by executive order. Right-wing presidents have been decisively pushed back before, in the US and abroad. It was under Nixon that the US pulled out of Vietnam, the EPA was established, welfare expanded, and Roe v. Wade won. Trump can be stopped, but not if our main strategy is to prepare for elections 18 months from now and remain within the confines of the pro-corporate Democratic Party.

Instead, every Bernie rally should end with a clear immediate next step, building for upcoming protests around trans rights, immigrant rights, against the attacks on federal workers, and so on. Neighborhood launch meetings of a new party could be used to organize mass rallies in every major city and large-scale coordinated strike action on May 1st, International Workers Day. In this way May Day could become the first truly mass national day of action to unite all the anti-Trump struggles into one. Bernie and AOC could be decisive in making this action but not if their primary focus is on voting and elections at a time when what’s sorely needed is mass action. 

Fighting Oligarchy To The End

If at the next “Fighting Oligarchy” tour rally in Los Angeles on April 12, where there are sure to be tens of thousands of people and could even break his Denver record, Bernie declared “Enough is enough, the Democratic Party can’t be reformed, we’re starting something new,” millions would heed the call. Sanders and AOC could call for neighborhood launch meetings in the next two weeks focused on building for mass action on May Day, followed by city and statewide conferences which elect delegates to a national founding conference this summer where a party program could be democratically decided on and a national leadership could be democratically elected.

The program could be binding on all elected officials, required to take no more than the average wage of those they represent, and if they abandon the program, be subject to immediate recall. Unions could be given the opportunity to affiliate to the party and submit delegates on behalf of their memberships. Within weeks, such a party would be over a million strong and have a class struggle war chest of hundreds of millions of dollars. It could run hundreds of independent working-class candidates in upcoming elections, flowing directly from the anti-Trump movement in the streets and workplaces, not instead of it. This party would be infinitely more effective than the Democratic Party ever will be in fighting Trump’s agenda, because it would be based on the power of the working class and mass movements. Because any party that fights unequivocally for working-class interests will run up against the limits of what’s possible under profit-driven capitalism, it would ultimately need to adopt a socialist program.

Unfortunately, it is clear that Bernie is not planning to take this path, but we can’t afford to lower our sights for what’s truly needed. The labor and anti-Trump movement need to take up the mantle.

The “Fighting Oligarchy” tour puts on full display the rising anger at both Trump and the do-nothing Democrats, but the strategy being provided is not going to work. Fighting oligarchy means fighting both parties of the billionaire class. It means not making a single concession to capitalist divide-and-rule, pitting one section of the working class against another. It means taking a clear stance against all imperialist war that serves only the ruling classes of this country and others, not ordinary people of any nation. It means fighting the entire capitalist system that breeds oligarchy in the first place. If we’re going to fight oligarchy, we need to fight it to the end.