With breathless warnings about a “fascist takeover” and the imposition of an “authoritarian regime” apparently having fallen out of favor, Democrats have a new favorite word to describe President Donald Trump and the conservative movement: “oligarchy.”
Elected Democrats and the corporate media seem very convinced that this latest attack line will finally, truly, really for real this time take down Donald Trump. But describing the Trump administration as an “oligarchy” even as Democrats have spent the last two decades consolidating the support of American elites and taking billions of dollars from ultra-wealthy liberal donors is if anything even more ironic and tone-deaf than their “fascist” and “Nazi” smears.
Joe Biden cued up the oligarchy attacks in his farewell address, warning that “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
Fast forward three months, and “oligarchy” talk is everywhere on the left. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders are currently in the midst of a nationwide speaking campaign titled the “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently told the hosts of “The View” that he wakes up “at three in the morning sometimes so worried about the future of this country under these oligarchs.” Senator Chris Murphy has likewise warned about a supposed “coming oligarchy,” while progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) recently posted about the need to “combat oligarchy.”
But wait – aren’t these the same Democrats who have been taking huge donations from wealthy backers for years? Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have reportedly spent more than $220,000 flying on private jets during their tour. Sanders himself, despite spending his entire political career railing against the rich, owns three homes and is worth millions.
Then there’s Schumer. The “oligarchs” he allegedly wakes up in a cold sweat over may well be friends of his, considering he took millions from PACs connected to liberal megadonor George Soros and has a longstanding close relationship with Alex Soros, the heir-apparent to the Soros activist network.
It’s easy to see where Democrats got the “oligarchy” idea from; President Trump’s partnership with Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is indeed an unusual arrangement. But if Trump and Musk are looking to form an oligarchy, they’re not doing a very good job of it.
For starters, Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has a clearly stated expiration date: July 4, 2026, when DOGE’s work is scheduled to be complete. Wouldn’t an oligarch want to remain in his position of influence as long as possible?
And then there’s the nature of DOGE’s work itself. When DOGE made the U.S. Agency for International Development’s funding public, it became clear that billions of American taxpayer dollars were being funded to advance far-left causes and ultimately line the pockets of left-wing special interests run by wealthy individuals. It’s also a safe bet that at least some of that money ended up back in the coffers of Democrat politicians.
In this light, what Musk and DOGE are actually doing is exposing and dismantling oligarchy – an oligarchy created by the Democrat Party.
Democrats may have once been the party of the working class, but that is no longer the case. They are now the party of wealthy, out-of-touch elites who are far closer to “oligarchs” than the blue-collar workers who form the base of the Republican Party. In 2024, more than twice as many billionaires backed Kamala Harris as Donald Trump. A survey of millionaire investors from just before the election found a 57 percent to 43 percent split in favor of Harris.
Before Elon Musk, it was difficult to think of even one prominent billionaire who openly backed Trump and Republican candidates. As historian Victor Davis Hanson recently pointed out, the list of the top ten wealthiest individuals in America reads mostly like a Democrat Party donor list.
Nonetheless, Democrats and the corporate media have zeroed in on Musk’s political activism as evidence of “oligarchy.” But liberals don’t have a leg to stand on.
For instance, it is true that Musk spent more than $3 million on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race earlier this month. But the media has been far more reluctant to report the fact that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker – who has a net worth of $3.7 billion – and Soros spent a combined $3.5 million.
If Democrats want to have an honest conversation about wealth and power in America, they might start by looking inward. The loudest voices warning of a supposed “oligarchy” are often the very ones thriving within one – jet-setting across the country, raking in donations from billionaires, and operating at the heart of an elite ecosystem that props them up.
It’s not “fighting oligarchy” when you’re funded by it. In the end, Americans aren’t fooled by buzzwords or branding campaigns. They can see who is truly challenging entrenched power and who is simply repackaging it in populist rhetoric.
Shane Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
When you don’t have a winning argument, smear your adversary with a scary label and vilify them. Straight out of Saul Alinsky’s how-to-be-an-effective-communist book, Rules for Radicals.
Great article, an eye opening for those in the dark. Keep it up tp educate the brainwashed Democrats by the sick & biased media. Thank you.
DEMOCRATS and HYPOCRISY are synonyms and go hand-n-hand.
Everything they accuse Trump of being, or doing something they don’t like, THEY are doing doing the exact same thing multiplied by 10,000.
Dems look in a mirror? Huh, the corruption, lies and pure evil they ooze would crack any mirror out there.
The current Democratic Party are 90% Communists, purge them Nocv. 2026
Democrats have millionaires 2 to 1 more than conservatives. Silicon valley, the entertainers, Globalist, all are Progressive Leftist supporters. Democrats are GREAT at projecting. WHENEVER they accuse their opponents of ANYTHING, they themselves are already guilty of it.
It’s always entertaining to see the Democrats, otherwise known more correctly as America’s Socialist Party, repeating the lines that have been written for them to recite to the public by the Left’s billionaires that are the true oligarchs that have been running things behind the curtain for decades. Nothing screams hypocrisy like a Democrat politician flying from event to event via private jets. All because about a dozen or so billionaires on our side have decided they’ve had enough of the forced march to the abyss that the Left in this country has had our country on for quite a while now.
You have Alexander Soros, taking up the leadership mantle from his father George. Who has bankrolled the so-called Party of the People for decades. You have Mike Bloomberg using his media empire to spew the talking points passed off as “news” to reinforce the anti-American message. You have the long list of the Silicon Valley “progressive” billionaires that have turned California and many of the surrounding states into the sh*t holes that they are today, while they live behind gated estates with private security forces. Not to be outdone, the equally numerous east coast “progressive” billionaire class, who run some of the largest and well-known investment and hedge fund forms in the world, all with deep financial investments to China, have done the same to much of the northeast and New England areas of the country. You even have Pritzker in Illinois dusting off his bio to position himself for the 2028 race, as he’s done such a fine job further running that state into the ground.
The Left has nothing positive to put forth as a solution to anything. Their entire message is “You are all victims, and you need a massive, over-arching central government to run your lives for you.” Yet unsurprisingly, that message still resonates with the least intelligent percentage of the American public. The Left controlled media has even generated some obviously ludicrous polling to show that AOC is the current favorite of Democrats to run for POTUS in 2028 and the Democrats voters just nod in approval.
Anytime the left throws a rock, it’s aimed at what they are guilty of.
Foolish as this rhetoric may sound to anyone who thinks logically and rationally, it is aimed at the mouth breathers who depend on the Enemy Media and Social Media for their “information”. When you’re ruled by emotions and predjudices and react rather than think, You do what your “betters” tell you to do and think. Sheep are always easily led. Ignore the noise and use your brain to succeed in life.
Democrats are so hysterical! It’s almost like a 6-year-old kid trying to pull the wall over his parent’s eyes cuz they won’t know what I’m doing! Remember when Rush used to play the sound bites of all the liberal talk people back to back in they all used the exact same phrase? They had a chat room they all got on and determined what they were going to say the next day and what the line of attack was. They are really funny, and amazingly juvenile. It’s really simple whatever they are accusing conservatives and Republicans are doing they are already doing, and if their lips are moving they are lying. It’s very simple to deal with Democrat. Living with them the whole different story. Ever been around a liberal or a Democrat and started to make some comment about their policies, and the first thing they do is hey be careful I’m a liberal. Like I’m supposed to be careful. Go pound sand
Truth
I notice Comrad Sanders has his hand raised. Looks like a National Socialist party salute.
they make money in office and they love to make us do things we dont want to do like take our gas stoves like they are our bosses they take our rights and our money and jobs and sell our country to bad countrys like china get us in wars all politicians are grifters its time to put working class people in office
On nearly EVERY issue, one need only listen to the accusations of the DIMMs and discover that it is THEY who are doing the things of which they accuse Trump and MAGA!
Oligarcy,is the new Buzz word the Democrsts use to describe President Trump and his cabinet.
This is a typical Communist trick.
The Elistist Communist Dictators live well off the backs of the people.
GOD BLESS DONALD TRUMP!
GOD BLESS ELON MUSK!
THE FACT THAT THERE WEALTHY MEANS NOTHING OTHER THAN THEY ARE FREE MEN!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!????????????????????????????????????????
The Sanders AOC tour is nothing more than a Marxist tactic to bring down a country. Accuse your opposition of what you are doing yourself. Bernie and AOC are multi millionaires themselves. Only they are calling the Billionaires the Oligarchs. Who raised two billion dollars to get Harris elected? The DNC. The Bezos the Zuckerbergs tge Gates the Pritzkers the Roythchilds of this world are running the dem and the ultra left. AOC was a bartender and is now a multi millionaire. Crockett is after 18 months in the House a multi millionaire. They are the ones screaming the loudest against Elon and DOGE. Why? They have something to lose? They are destroying this country and the oligarch tour is a farce. Elon works for free pays his staff himself. President Trump takes no salary. But ole Bernie who still lives in the old Soviet Union, mentally, doesn’t tell that to those that show up at these rallies. One phenomenon that I noticed none of the people behind them at these rallies never yell or scream or clap. It’s like canned applause is used and the ones behind them are paid to sit there. Just an observation I gathered from the sound bites the right media still airs. Why? Let Bernie be Bernie. If AOC is the head of the DNC she will fall flat on her face like Harris. Their communist doctrine is becoming more and more apparent.
These democrats really did read Saul’s book. I thought at first it was just a republican reason for the terrible attitudes we see daily, but its true, the democrats accuse others of exactly what they are doing. The republicans have Musk, and I really do not know all the names of the ones the dims have, for sure Soros and Pritzker. They really believe that none of us notice this
Some really brave journalist, like Matt Taibbi, should uncover ALL of Bernie Sanders funding, his wealth, all the homes he owns, his investments and all his ties to Big Pharma (even though he says they are all individual donations). That would put an end to their lies. And, excuse me, but aren’t WE THE PEOPLE paying their salaries while they are busy flying around in private jets? Shouldn’t they be WORKING?
That is exactly what I thought when I heard this “oligarchy” headline!! Did either of you read the definition of oligarchy, do you know what it means??? Joe, Obama, the Bushes, the Clintons all fit that same definition so, Bernie and AOC, your premise is invalid AND you owe the American people a huge explanation and apology!!! You are still lying to the American people about the Republicans and you can’t be trusted!! I learned that lesson with Hillary – all of the lies she told and her never taking responsibility for anything, ever!!! NOT trustworthy!! The Republicans are trying to fix what has been wrong for too long!! Democrats are too afraid to take on any of the stuff that this administration is so why are you complaining??
Just like a bad magician, the demrats can’t hide their true actions. The same complainers ignored the will of the people in November and will never learn from their disconnect with the voters. In 1996 Pelosi and in 2005 Schumer complained of the unbalanced tariffs, yet did NOTHING! Now the Tariff Sherriff is forcing other countries to the table, the blindness has covered the eyes of demrats. So sad they are at such a disconnect, coupled with the fake news outlets
I notice the judiciary is conspicuously absent from the marxist’s harangue about the oligarchy.
I am a Christian conservative and we are retired so I do not include myself as a member of an oligarchy – period!!!!!
F the Tyrants democrats and liberals and progressives in Every Election We The People Decide who will be President not a political party
I’m sorry, but to me the biggest problem we have is the stupidity of the voters. How can so many Politian’s keep getting voted in when they are worthless. This goes for all sides.
The democratic politicians are so phony and liars and cowards. Oh, cheats too. I have nothing more to say. Wish I could say something good.
Democrat politicians should really tape their rhetoric and then listen to their own lies, distortion of facts and their blatant insult to everyone’s intelligence every time they open their mouths. If they have a conscience, they’ll change, if not…they’ll sink their party to oblivion like the WHIG PARTY & the FEDERALIST PARTY of yesteryears. The first moral values for politicians and the mainstream media is HONESTY, without it is a sure path to it’s demise.
Dear me now we know what you say is so stupid.
Instead of referring to an “oligarchy”, perhaps choosing a less intimidating name for their political rival (that actually poses no threat) would be more calming. “Floyd” or “Mary” might be more agreeable, and certainly more calming to those who may hear voices from time to time…
There are enough oligarchs and elitists on both sides. Republicans used to use George Soros as their prop for a Democrat liberal oligarch/elitist. Now you can say Republicans have plenty of their own, with Trump, Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg. The sad thing is (for both parties), these individuals have no concept, or have lost touch with, how ordinary people live their lives.