Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont speaks onstage before Clario’s performance at the 2025 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 12, 2025 in Indio, Calif.

Katie Flores/Billboard via Getty Images

Questions abounded over whether this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival would feature many political statements. On Saturday night, politics took center stage when Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared, fresh off an event earlier in the day in Los Angeles alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that drew 36,000 spectators.

Just before singer-songwriter Clairo’s set, Sanders walked up to raucous applause. The crowd was thin to start, as many were still catching the conclusion of Charli XCX on the Coachella Stage, but the senator’s voice drew people running over from the nearby dining areas. 

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“The future of what happens to America is dependent on your generation. Now, you can turn away and you can ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do that at your own peril,” Sanders said. 

Although he didn’t mention President Donald Trump directly by name, the crowd roared with boos at first mention of the president. “I agree,” responded Sanders. “He thinks climate change is a hoax.”

Sanders went on to stress the importance of standing up to the fossil fuel industry, and praised Clairo for being an outspoken advocate of women’s rights. Cheers grew louder and louder throughout the four-minute speech, as Sanders went through many topics he’s been addressing on his recent string of political appearances, including the health care system, economic inequalities and the “terrible brutal war in Gaza where thousands of women and children are being killed.” 

“So I want to thank Clairo, for not only being in a great band, but for the great work she’s doing,” he said.

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