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Sanders to Headline Flagship Minnesota Rally During 3,000+ 'No Kings' Protests
"From Trump's authoritarianism, to the war in Iran, a corrupt campaign system owned by billionaires, attacks on voting rights, and an AI revolution with no guardrails, we are living in dangerous times."
Mar 21, 2026
US Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Saturday that he is set to headline two major rallies next weekend "as part of a growing national movement challenging oligarchy and economic inequality," including the flagship "No Kings" rally at the Minnesota State Capitol.
The Vermont Independent plans to join other progressive elected officials, labor leaders, and organizers in Minneapolis on the afternoon of Saturday, March 28, as Americans hold more than 3,000 related No Kings events across the United States.
President Donald Trump's authoritarian agenda previously sparked more than 2,100 No Kings demonstrations last June, followed by over 2,700 in October. Organizers announced the third round of protests in January, as the administration flooded the Twin Cities with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who took the lives of two US citizens and violated the rights of many more Minnesotans.
It’s official: There are now 3,000 protests planned for No Kings Day. That means there will be more protests on March 28 than any previous day in American history.Please join us: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings
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— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) March 18, 2026 at 12:57 PM
"The next No Kings protest will mark the largest collective exercise of free speech in American history—an undeniable indicator that Americans of all backgrounds support democracy and the Constitution," GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, who LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group is part of the coalition behind the protests, said in a statement earlier this week.
"The administration's attacks on LGBTQ people, especially transgender Americans, spanning from healthcare to military service to accessing accurate IDs, are a threat to freedom for everyone and out of step with what millions of Americans care about," she declared. "The power of our voices to oppose authoritarianism and recent gross government overreaches can never be overstated. America is for all of us, not some of us."
The No Kings coalition also includes the ACLU, American Federation of Teachers, Common Defense, Human Rights Campaign, Indivisible, League of Conservation Voters, National Education Association (NEA), National Nurses United, Public Citizen, Service Employees International Union, United We Dream, 50501, and more.
"Across the country, educators and parents are standing up to the extreme overreach of Donald Trump," said NEA president Becky Pringle. "His administration has attacked our students, undermined public schools, and used tactics like deploying ICE to intimidate and traumatize our communities."
"In rural, suburban, and urban communities alike, people of all races and backgrounds are coming together to say, 'Enough!'" Pringle added. "With more than 3,000 events already planned and new volunteers signing up every day, this growing, nonviolent movement will continue to protect our students, our communities, and our democracy from Trump's authoritarianism and abuses of power."
After the Minnesota event, Sanders plans to travel to New York, to headline a "Tax the Rich" rally at Lehman College in the Bronx.
During Trump's first year back in the White House, Sanders led events throughout the nation, including in New York City, as part of his Fighting Oligarchy Tour. More recently, the two-time Democratic presidential primary candidate has visited California to meet with artificial intelligence leaders and to support a billionaire tax opposed by the ultrarich and Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat expected to run for president in 2028.
In the Bronx next Sunday afternoon, Sanders intends to call on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, another rising star in the Democratic Party, to impose higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans. The rally is scheduled just before the state's April 1 budget deadline.
"From Trump's authoritarianism, to the war in Iran, a corrupt campaign system owned by billionaires, attacks on voting rights, and an AI revolution with no guardrails, we are living in dangerous times," Sanders said in a Saturday statement. "From Minnesota to New York, working people are standing up to demand a government that represents all of us—not just the 1%."
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'People Can't Afford Healthcare': Sanders Rips Pentagon Request for Another $200 Billion
"People can't afford childcare," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "And this guy, in addition to giving tax breaks to billionaires, now wants to spend another $200 billion on a war that should never have been fought."
Mar 20, 2026
US Sen. Bernie Sanders said Thursday that it is absurd for the Trump administration to demand another $200 billion from Congress for an illegal war on Iran after lawmakers already approved $1 trillion in military spending for the year—and while millions of people across the nation are struggling to afford basic necessities.
"You got people all over this country, 20% of households, spending 50% of their income on housing," Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an appearance on MS NOW. "People can't afford healthcare. People can't afford childcare. And this guy, in addition to giving tax breaks to billionaires, now wants to spend another $200 billion on a war that should never have been fought."
The senator's remarks came as President Donald Trump, who has not yet formally requested the funds from Congress, suggested another $200 billion would be a "small price to pay" as the US-Israeli war on Iran heads toward its fourth week with no end in sight.
"I think the Trump people are in a bit of panic," Sanders said Thursday. "They're losing ground. Gas prices are soaring. There is massive discontent against this war. It's got to end, and we've got to make sure that Trump is neutered in 2026."
With the Trump administration considering a plan to deploy thousands of additional troops to the Middle East amid widespread fears of a ground invasion of Iran—which would explode the price tag of an already costly war—the National Priorities Project (NPP) released an analysis highlighting where the $200 billion requested by the Pentagon could be better spent.
The group estimated that $200 billion would be enough for all of the following this year:
- Medicaid for the 17 million people who will lose it due to budget cuts and other policies;
- Food stamps for the 22 million people who will go hungry due to Trump's budget cuts;
- Medical care for the 1.8 million veterans of the last forever war who still live with disabilities; and
- Tripling the number of kids in Head Start, from just over 700,000 to 1.4 million kids.
"Pete Hegseth would rather the US bomb Iranian families than feed American families," wrote NPP's Lindsay Koshgarian, referring to the Pentagon secretary. "We should remember the lies that led us into war in Iraq a generation ago. That war ultimately cost nearly $3 trillion. We must not go down that path again. Our tax dollars should be helping struggling Americans, not feeding new forever wars."
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'No More Weapons to Support an Illegal War': Sanders Aims to Cut Off Israel Aid as Attacks Across Middle East Escalate
Earlier this month, the Trump administration bypassed Congress to sell Israel more than 20,000 bombs, costing over $650 million.
Mar 19, 2026
Sen. Bernie Sanders has introduced joint resolutions of disapproval for US arms sales to Israel following its escalation of attacks against Iran, Lebanon, and Palestine in recent days.
The resolutions Sanders presented on Thursday (I-Vt.) are cosponsored by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and target a total of $658 million worth of weapons sales to Israel.
“Given the horrific destruction that Israel’s extremist government has wrought on Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon, the last thing in the world that American taxpayers need to do right now is to provide 22,000 new bombs to the Netanyahu government,” Sanders said. “No more weapons to support an illegal war.”
The weapons Sanders hopes to block were approved under emergency authority by the Trump administration earlier this month, allowing it to bypass congressional review.
According to Reuters, the package contained more than 12,000 thousand-pound bombs requested by Israel, which human rights groups say Israel has often used in densely populated areas, leading to large numbers of civilian casualties.
"Trump not only disregarded congressional authority to declare this war, he’s now bypassing Congress by invoking an emergency authority to supply additional bombs to this war, a crisis of his own making," Van Hollen said.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since February 28, according to a Wednesday report from the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency, a humanitarian monitor for Iran.
More than 1,300 of those killed have been classified as civilians, including more than 200 children. Meanwhile, more than 3 million Iranians have been displaced from their homes, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
In Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion, the death count is at nearly 1,000 according to the nation's health ministry, following attacks on densely populated areas in recent days. Forced evacuation orders from Israel have led more than a million people to flee from their homes.
Government-backed Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has also intensified since the outbreak of the war, according to Human Rights Watch. Since the beginning of March, there have been reports of settlers—sometimes in uniform—invading Palestinian communities, firing live ammunition, setting homes and cars on fire, and attacking families in their homes.
Sanders' resolutions of disapproval will be introduced under the Arms Export Control Act, which allows Congress to vote on halting proposed weapons transfers after being notified by the executive branch.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, controlled by Republicans, will have five days to consider the proposal. After that, Sanders and his cosponsors will have the opportunity to force a simple-majority floor vote to discharge it.
To actually block weapons sales, the resolution would need to pass both the House and the Senate, which is highly unlikely. Even if this happened, Trump could still veto it, which could only be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both houses.
While the vote itself is almost sure to fail, it has the opportunity to force members of Congress—particularly other Democrats—to go on the record about their support for Israel's actions in the Middle East, which many have continued to fund even while rhetorically opposing them.
“President Trump’s war of choice in Iran has been a catastrophe—jeopardizing our national security and the lives of our troops, killing and wounding thousands of innocent civilians, and causing havoc in the global economy," Welch said. “I support these joint resolutions to make sure that we do not send another 20,000 bombs to Israel that will result in further destruction in Iran and Lebanon. We must end this war, and we must not send these bombs.”
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