This story was updated August 7 to reflect a venue change.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has traveled across the country – from Missoula, Montana to Shreveport, Louisiana – on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
On Sunday, August 10, he heads to Asheville as part of a campaign against what he sees as the growing threat of oligarchy in American politics. The speakers will start at 6 p.m., with music from Sylvan Esso at 5 p.m. and doors opening at 3:30 p.m.
Since kicking the tour off in February, the Vermont senator and former presidential candidate has drawn record crowds.
The event was originally slated for the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, a venue that holds around 2,400. On Thursday, his campaign announced the event will now be held at Harrah's Cherokee Center, which seats around 7,200.
His rallies have addressed similar themes to the “No Kings” protests that have emerged in Western North Carolina over the last few months. Sanders has condemned the Trump Administration’s expansion of executive power, along with the widespread cuts to federal programs and agencies like USAID, the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
At a rally in Los Angeles that drew 36,000 people, Sanders warned that “we are living in a moment of extraordinary danger,” referring to the Trump administration's policies and expansion of power.
"I'm no longer talking about how we're moving to oligarchy," he said. "I'm talking about how we are living today in an oligarchic form of society."
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, has joined Sanders for some of the stops on the tour. It’s unclear if she’ll attend the rally in Asheville.
Sanders last visited Asheville in 2019 as part of his presidential campaign. He appeared at the now-defunct Salvage Station in the River Arts District. At the rally, he spoke in favor of free tuition to public colleges and universities, a tiered corporate tax structure and a single-payer health care system.
