Bernie Sanders 'NO KING' Protest Speech: Sanders FIRES Up Crowd at ‘No Kings’ Rally Against Trump

Oneindia

On October 18, 2025, millions of Americans took to the streets in a nationwide wave of “No Kings” protests, demanding an end to perceived authoritarianism under the Trump administration. The largest demonstration unfolded in Washington, D.C., in front of the U.S. Capitol, where Senator Bernie Sanders delivered a fiery speech denouncing Trump’s “power grab,” ICE raids, and threats to constitutional norms. Drawing inspiration from revolutionary ideals, Sanders called for unity, urgent Republican engagement, and a defense of democracy, declaring: “This is not the end, just the beginning… America can defeat this fascist threat.” Protesters across the country echoed the rallying cry of “No Kings,” marking a historic day of civic action.    #NoKingsProtest #BernieSandersSpeech #TrumpPowerGrab #USProtests2025 #DefendDemocracy #StopAuthoritarianism #CapitolRally #NationalMallProtest #AmericanDemocracy #NoKingsMovement #USPolitics2025 #DemocracyUnderThreat #ProtestForFreedom #SandersSpeaks #PoliticalActivism #UnitedAgainstAuthoritarianism #ProtectTheConstitution #AntiTrumpProtest #DemocracyRally #NoKingsDay #CivicActionUSA #HistoricProtests #MassMobilization #TrumpControversy #PoliticalUnrest #FreedomMarch #ConstitutionalDefense #USProtestsNews #PoliticalChange #PeoplePower2025  ~ED.102~

Transcript

00:01Thank you, Washington!

00:06Thank you, Indivisible!

00:12Thank you to the millions of Americans

00:15from our smallest towns to our largest cities

00:28and every state in our country

00:32who are gathering today at thousands of rallies.

00:37Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House,

00:51called these rallies hate America events.

00:57Boy, does he have it wrong!

01:03Millions of Americans are coming out today

01:11not because they hate America,

01:14we're here because we love America!

01:23We're here because we're going to do everything we can

01:29to honor the sacrifices of millions of men and women

01:35who over the last 250 years

01:41fought and sometimes died

01:45to defend our democracy and our freedoms.

01:49In 1776, with extraordinary courage,

02:00the founders of our country announced to the world

02:04that they would no longer be ruled by the King of England.

02:09A king who had absolute power over their lives.

02:16They demanded freedom!

02:19And to bring that about,

02:24they fought a bloody war against the British Empire

02:29and the most powerful military in the world.

02:34Tens of thousands of Americans died in that eight-year war,

02:41but our forefathers fought on and they won.

02:52And in 1789, after winning that war,

02:58they did something extraordinary.

03:01They established the first democratic form of government

03:06in modern history.

03:13They said loudly and boldly to the entire world,

03:19no more kings.

03:27In America, they said,

03:30we the people will rule.

03:37And today...

03:40No more kings.

03:42No more kings.

03:44No more kings.

03:46No more kings.

03:48And today, today in the year 2025, in this dangerous moment in American history, our message is exactly the same.

04:04No, President Trump, we don't want you or any other king to rule us.

04:11Thank you very much, but we will maintain our democratic form of society.

04:25We will not move toward authoritarianism in America. We, the people, will rule.

04:34When he was sworn in as the nation's first president, George Washington called this attempt at self-government, quote,

04:50an experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people, end quote.

04:56My fellow Americans, in an unprecedented way, that experiment is now in danger.

05:07It is in danger when we have a president who wants more and more power in his own hands and in the hands of his fellow oligarchs.

05:20It is in danger when we have a president who claims that peaceful protests in Portland, Oregon, or Chicago, Illinois, is an insurrection.

05:40And calls in the U.S. military.

05:43And then threatens to arrest the mayors and governors who resist them.

05:54It is in danger when we have masked agents working for ICE, breaking down doors, throwing people into vans without due process,

06:06and taking them to God knows where.

06:09It is in danger when we have a president who sues and intimidates the media,

06:20who wants no criticism of him and his policies,

06:25and who undermines the First Amendment of our Constitution,

06:31the very foundation of American democracy.

06:34Our country is in danger when we have a president who threatens to arrest or imprison political opponents

06:48who stand against him.

06:53Including the Attorney General of New York State,

06:56a sitting U.S. Senator,

06:58and the Governor of California.

07:00It is in danger when we have a president who undermines freedom of thought and dissent at our colleges and universities,

07:12and who attacks law firms that oppose him in court.

07:20It is in danger when we have a president who threatens to impeach judges who rule against him.

07:30It is in danger when we have a president who ignores Congress,

07:38refuses to spend money that Congress appropriates,

07:42and takes away money from states who voted against him.

07:48It is in danger when we have a president who demands that states redraw congressional maps

07:58to ensure that his chosen candidates win future elections.

08:04It is in danger when we have a president who illegally fires tens of thousands of federal employees

08:16countries right here in Washington, D.C.

08:21and throughout our country and rips up union contracts that workers have fought for and won.

08:28It is in danger when we have a president who grossly violates the Constitution

08:38by accepting gifts from foreign leaders,

08:40including a 400 million dollar plane from the royal family of Cutter,

08:54and then allows that family to build an Air Force facility in Idaho.

09:00Let us be clear, this moment is not just about one man's greed, one man's corruption,

09:14or one man's contempt for the Constitution.

09:19This is about a handful of the wealthiest people on earth,

09:24who in their insatiable greed have hijacked our economy and our political system

09:32in order to enrich themselves at the expense of working families throughout this country.

09:39Yes, yeah, I am talking about Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and the other multi-billionaires

09:58who were sitting right behind Trump when he was inaugurated.

10:03Remember that?

10:04Yes.

10:05The very same billionaires who funded his campaign,

10:10who have bestowed gifts upon him,

10:13and who have seen huge increases in their wealth and power since Trump took office.

10:25Yeah.

10:26Yes, I am talking about the insanity of one person,

10:32Mr. Musk owning more wealth than the bottom 52% of American households.

10:45I'm talking about the incredible injustice of the top 1% in America,

10:53now owning more wealth than the bottom 93%.

10:58I'm talking about the richest people in America,

11:04becoming much, much richer,

11:07while 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck,

11:13struggling every day to pay their rent and mortgages,

11:18pay for childcare and education,

11:21pay for their healthcare and prescription drugs,

11:25afford decent quality food for their kids,

11:29and maybe, just maybe,

11:31put aside a few bucks for their retirements.

11:34I am talking about our nation,

11:38the richest country in the history of the world,

11:43having the highest rate of childhood and senior poverty of almost any major country on earth.

11:52I am talking about our great nation,

11:59having 85 million Americans uninsured or underinsured,

12:05and 800,000 people who are homeless,

12:11including people a few blocks from here.

12:15All the while, while Mr. Musk is on his way to becoming a trillionaire,

12:30I am talking about the incredible danger of the richest people in this country

12:36pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence and robotics,

12:45which, in the next decade,

12:47will decimate tens of millions of jobs for the American working class.

12:53I am talking about a billionaire class

13:00who believe that they have the divine right to rule

13:06and who not only want massive tax breaks for themselves,

13:12but who reject any form of accountability or checks on their power.

13:23My fellow Americans,

13:25we rejected the divine right of kings in the 1770s.

13:31We will not accept the divine right of oligarchs today.

13:49And now let's take a look, brief look,

13:52and where we are today,

13:55where we are today on the 18th day

13:57of a government shutdown

14:00which is depriving millions of federal employees

14:04of the paychecks they desperately need

14:07and deserve.

14:12Let me cut to the chase

14:14and tell you exactly

14:16what this shutdown is all about.

14:19As a result of Trump's big, beautiful, disgraceful bill,

14:29which made massive cuts to Medicaid

14:32and the Affordable Care Act,

14:3415 million,

14:3815 million low-income

14:41and working-class Americans

14:43are going to lose the health care

14:46they desperately need to stay alive.

14:49And my friends, studies suggest

14:55that when you throw those 15 million people

14:59off of the health care they presently have,

15:0250,000 of them will die unnecessarily

15:07every single year.

15:1550,000 Americans will die unnecessarily

15:20every single year.

15:22But that's not all.

15:24As a result of that same terrible piece of legislation,

15:28over 20 million Americans are going to see on average

15:32a doubling of their health insurance premiums

15:36through the Affordable Care Act.

15:41In my state of Vermont just the other day,

15:43people received notices from insurance companies

15:46that their health care premiums

15:48in some cases would triple or quadruple.

15:53And that is going on all over the country.

16:00At a time when we already pay

16:03by far the highest prices in the world

16:07for health care,

16:09millions of Americans are going to see

16:12outrageous increases in their health care premiums

16:16which they cannot afford.

16:18And why is that happening?

16:24Why are the Republicans making a broken health care system,

16:30a dysfunctional health care system even worse?

16:34Why are they bringing our health care system

16:39to the verge of collapse?

16:41We all know the answer.

16:45We all know the answer.

16:48It was to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks

16:54to Mr. Musk, Mr. Bezos, Mr. Zuckerberg, Mr. Ellison,

16:59and the rest of the 1%.

17:04One trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid

17:08and the ACA are trillion dollars in tax breaks for the 1%.

17:17That, my fellow Americans,

17:20is what this shutdown is all about.

17:23And let me be as clear as I can be.

17:28No, I will not vote for a budget

17:32that throws 15 million Americans off their health care.

17:37No, I will not vote for a budget that doubles premiums

17:49for 20 million Americans.

17:52No, I will not vote for a budget

17:58that forces nursing homes, rural hospitals,

18:01community health centers to lay off staff

18:04and close their doors throughout this country.

18:07All to give huge tax breaks to the billionaire class.

18:19So today, right now, I say to my Republican colleagues,

18:24come back from your month-long vacation.

18:34Start negotiating and do not allow the American health care system

18:41to be destroyed.

18:43End this shutdown.

18:45My fellow Americans, we are the greatest country

18:57in the history of the world.

19:00And when we stand together

19:02and don't allow demagogues to divide us up,

19:07there is nothing that we cannot accomplish.

19:17Yes, yes, we can create a vibrant democracy

19:23by ending citizens united

19:26and not allowing billionaires to buy elections.

19:29Yes, we can join the rest of the industrialized world

19:39and guarantee health care to every man, woman and child

19:43as a human right.

19:44Yes, we can build millions of units of low income

19:53and affordable housing and allow our younger generation

19:58to enjoy the American dream

20:00and own a home of their own.

20:06Yes, we can make public colleges and universities

20:11tuition-free

20:12and have the best childcare and public school system

20:20in the entire world.

20:26Yes, we can expand Social Security

20:30so that every senior in our country

20:33can retire with dignity.

20:35Yes, we can raise the minimum wage to a living wage

20:43and guarantee every worker the right to join the world.

20:49and the right to join a union.

20:52Yes, we can lead the world

20:56in transforming our energy system

21:00away from fossil fuels

21:02and create millions of good jobs

21:04as we save the planet.

21:06Yes, we can guarantee

21:11that every woman in this country

21:14has the right to control her own body.

21:17Yes, yes, we can have a foreign policy

21:30that guarantees that never again

21:33will American taxpayer dollars be used

21:36to starve children in Gaza or any place else.

21:40And now let me raise a question

21:50that I have been asked over and over again, you know.

21:53Bernie, great ideas, but how are you going to pay for them?

21:57Great question, thanks for asking.

21:59And here is the answer.

22:03At a time when the wealthiest people in America

22:08have never, ever had it so good.

22:13At a time when billionaires are paying an effective tax rate

22:18lower than a truck driver or a nurse.

22:21Yes, the top 1% and large profitable corporations

22:28will pay their fair share in taxes.

22:40My fellow Americans, the establishment,

22:44including the corporate media and many of my colleagues in Congress

22:50want you to believe that you are powerless.

22:55They want you to believe that you cannot change the status quo.

23:01But that is a lie.

23:05Throughout the history of our country,

23:08when Americans have stood up and fought for justice,

23:12they have prevailed.

23:20When the founders stood up to King George,

23:23they were told it was impossible.

23:27But they won.

23:32When abolitionists fought to end slavery,

23:36they were told it was impossible.

23:39But they won.

23:44When workers organized to form unions

23:47and stood up to their bosses,

23:49they were told it was impossible.

23:52But they won.

23:54When women demanded the right to vote,

23:59they were told it was impossible.

24:02But they won.

24:04When black Americans fought to end segregation,

24:09they were told it was impossible.

24:12But they won.

24:14When the LGBT community

24:18stood up for their rights,

24:21they were told it was impossible.

24:23But they won.

24:26Brothers and sisters,

24:29they did it then.

24:31We can and will do it now.

24:34And how do I know?

24:40How do I know that we will succeed?

24:43Take a look at this huge crowd right here in our nation's capital.

24:54But it is not just here.

24:56As I understand that today, October 18th, 2025,

25:02there are more people out on the streets,

25:05in more communities,

25:07all over our country

25:09than we have ever seen in American history.

25:19Brothers and sisters,

25:21this is not the end.

25:23This is just the beginning.

25:25Together, when we stand united,

25:35when we don't allow Trump or anybody else to divide us up by the color of our skin,

25:41or where we were born, or our sexual orientation,

25:45when we stand together,

25:47we will create the kind of nation that you and I know we can become.

25:57We can and will create a nation devoted to freedom, justice, and democracy.

26:08Thank you all very much.

26:38Download the One India app now.

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