Bernie Sanders seethes US has become ‘oligarchic society’ following Trump speech

Democrat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said the U.S. has become an “oligarchic society” while responding to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint Congress Tuesday evening. 

“The Trump administration is not hiding it,” Sanders said in a streamed response to Trump’s address Tuesday. “The Trump administration is a government of the billionaire class by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class. Notwithstanding some of their rhetoric, this is a government that could care less about ordinary Americans and the working families of our country. My friends, we are no longer moving toward oligarchy. We are living in an oligarchic society.”  

Trump’s speech late Tuesday evening marked the first time he addressed a joint session of Congress since his return to the Oval Office in January. Trump celebrated his administration’s breakneck pace of executive orders, securing the nation’s southern border, as well as his tariff plan during his speech. 

“To my fellow citizens, America is back,” Trump declared at the start of his speech after thanking the members of Congress and first lady Melania Trump. 

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Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered a response speech to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress.  (Joe Maher/Getty Images For Fane)

“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden Age of America,” he said. “From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.” 

Sanders argued in his response speech that Trump delivered a handful of “lies.”

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“Trump has claimed that millions of undocumented people voted and do vote in American elections — a lie,” Sanders said. “Trump has claimed that climate change is a hoax originating in China — a lie. Trump has claimed that Ukraine started the horrific war with Russia — a lie. And tonight, just tonight, Trump claimed that millions of dead people between the ages of 100 and 360, we’re collecting Social Security checks. And that is an outrageous lie intended to lay the groundwork for cuts to Social Security and dismantling the most successful and popular government program in history.” 

Vice President JD Vance, from left, President Donald Trump, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Vermont senator also railed against the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by Elon Musk, and its work going through various federal agencies to stamp out overspending, fraud and mismanagement. 

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“For the past several weeks, he and his good friend Elon Musk, who was up there in the audience tonight, have been throwing hundreds of thousands of federal employees off their jobs,” Sanders said. “Now, I know some of you are saying, ‘well, that’s too bad, you know, but that’s the federal government.'”

Elon Musk gestures on the day of President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2025.  (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

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“But I want you to think about this,” he added. “Think about it for a moment. If Musk and his friends can arbitrarily throw federal workers out on the street today, what do you think that Musk and his fellow billionaires will be doing tomorrow, when artificial intelligence and robotics explode in this country? Do you think they’ll give a damn about you and your families? No, they will treat you exactly the way they’re treating federal employees today/”