Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders visits Fresno, asks crowd to help ‘beat Trump’
Amid chants of “Bernie, Bernie,” Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke Friday night before a large audience at Fresno City College.
While the rally focused on climate change and the proposed Green New Deal, Sanders spoke about a variety of issues, from his desire to legalize cannabis in every state to ending the Trump administration’s policies targeting undocumented immigrants. “We will not be separating families, we will not be putting children in cages,” Sanders told the audience to loud cheers.
In addition to legalizing cannabis nationwide, Sanders said he would like to expunge the records of people arrested for past marijuana crimes, while helping members of disenfranchised communities start cannabis businesses.
In an interview with The Bee, Sanders said the 20 million jobs the Green New Deal will create should be enough to get skeptics on board, even those in the Valley who still doubt climate change is real and urgent. “It will be an economic boon to this country,” he said.
He also had sharp words for people who joke about climate change or don’t take it seriously. “It is hard to me to imagine, to be honest with you, that anybody in California, of all places, would be laughing at climate change,” he said. “What more do you need? To see this whole state have to burn down, before people recognize that climate change is real?”
The Green New Deal is a proposal first introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, to tackle climate change, and Sanders has been among its top supporters.
The Green New Deal includes billions for so-called climate justice, including public housing that is energy efficient. “People who are hurt the most severely (by climate change) are often poor people, people of color, the most vulnerable people in society,” he said. “And we put many billions of dollars to protect those communities.”
Sanders was introduced by Kingsburg City Councilmember Jewel Hurtado, who said the moment was surreal for her. For Hurtado and her mother, Elisa Rivera, the rally was a “full circle moment,” Rivera said in a Facebook post.
Rivera said she went all in for Sanders in 2016 after years of disillusionment. Sanders also sparked inspiration in her then-teenage daughter, Hurtado, she said. The two phone banked as volunteers for Sanders and successfully ran to be delegates.
“Whatever your thoughts on Sanders might be, the fact is that he is largely responsible for the influx of young people who have taken the mantle and are leading the revolution, my daughter included,” Rivera said.
Hurtado, who won her city council race by eight votes, had a clear message for the audience: “Vote like our future depends on it —because it does.”
Fresnans ‘feel the Bern’
Rally attendees said it was meaningful that Sanders stopped in Fresno.
“It’s good to show Bernie Sanders that he has a base in California, especially here in the Central Valley,” said Mateo Lopez, a 20-year-old Fresno City College student. “For the most part, a lot of people gloss over the Central Valley. Oftentimes we see the Central Valley can be right-leaning sometimes. I want to show it can be more than that.”
Isabel Belmontez, 33 of Fresno, said she’s been a Sanders supporter since 2016 when “it should’ve been him” as the Democratic nominee. She likes that Sanders is “for the people. It’s like the campaign says: ‘Not me, us.’”
It was important for San Joaquin Valley residents to show their support Friday, she said, to prove there are progressives here. Despite some of the Valley’s conservative leadership, the rally’s focus on climate change and the Green New Deal resonates here, she said.
“It’s very obvious that there’s no time to debate,” she said. “It’s our planet, not the government’s or president’s planet. If we don’t care, then who does?”
After the rally, James Olinger and Amber Cardona said hearing Sanders’ message was powerful.
“He really does speak to the working class, whereas it feels like everyone else is just kind of paying us lip service,” Cardona said. “We’re not stupid. We do see what’s going on. You can tell, this guy’s been fighting for us for decades. This is real.”
Olinger said Sanders has a lot to live up to since he’s made a lot of promises. But Sanders’ track records gives Olinger hope the Vermont senator will fulfill those promises, he said.
Olinger hopes Sanders delivers something Trump promised to deliver: jobs. But not just any jobs — quality jobs that pay a living wage.
Days before the 2016 election, Olinger, 42, finally made up his mind to vote for Trump. “I thought Donald Trump should be given a chance,” he said. “Three weeks into his presidency, I was already saying he should be gone.”
Olinger called Trump “arrogant,” and said, “I really don’t feel like he cares for anyone but himself and other billionaires or wealthy people.”
In his lifetime, Sanders is the candidate that has excited Olinger the most, he said. “For the sake of this country, I pray and hope that he wins the presidency in 2020.”
Winning California and Latinos
Sanders told the crowd about the importance of winning California. But it can’t be done if people don’t turn out to vote, he said.
“This is a moment we cannot pass by. This is a moment in which we must be involved. Tonight I ask you to join the political revolution. I ask you to help us defeat Trump,” he said.
The Sanders campaign is working to garner the Latino vote in California. This latest California tour comes on the heels of the release of the Vermont senator’s immigration plan, which calls for a moratorium on deportations, reinstating and expanding DACA, breaking up ICE and Border Patrol and welcoming refugees and asylum seekers.
Sanders also is the only Democratic candidate to open an office in Fresno.
Poll results of California Latinos by the Latino Community Foundation and Latino Decisions released this week found that among registered Latino voters who plan to participate in the Democratic primary in California, 31% would vote for Senator Bernie Sanders. The other candidates rounding out the top five are former Vice President Joe Biden, 22 %; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 11 %; former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, 9 %; and California Sen. Kamala Harris, 8 %.
A generational split emerged between younger and older Latino voters. Among Latino voters age 18 to 39 — the largest share of the Latino electorate — Sanders was preferred by 38% compared to 15% for Biden. Among Latino voters over the age of 50, Biden was preferred 35% to 19% for Sanders.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 7:10 PM.