This country faces an unprecedented set of crises.

We have an economy in which we have a grotesque level of income and wealth inequality, where the middle class is being decimated, and more than half of our people continue to live paycheck to paycheck -- many for starvation wages.

We are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people as a right and Republicans just made matters worse by passing legislation that will kick millions more off their health care -- all to give tax cuts to some of the wealthiest people and corporations in the country.

The situation in Gaza is more horrific than ever, last year was the hottest year ever recorded, the assault on a woman's right to choose continues, gun deaths are at historic highs, and we have a corrupt campaign finance system that allows the billionaire class of this country the ability to buy our elections.

All of these issues, and others, are enormously important ... but, today, I'm not going to talk about any of them.

What I am going to talk about is the rapid and unprecedented movement toward authoritarianism that Trump and his administration are pushing. And how we fight back.

Look around:

Stephen Colbert, the most popular late-night talk show host on television, has been taken off the air by CBS just days after he criticized the company for settling a bogus lawsuit with Trump. It’s pretty obvious why Paramount chose to surrender to Trump. The Redstone family, the major owners of the company, will now receive $2.4 billion from the sale of Paramount to Skydance which, surprise surprise, the FCC just approved.

NPR and PBS, two of the most independent news outlets in the country, had their budgets slashed to the tune of $1 billion by Trump and Republicans in Congress. Why? Because Trump doesn’t like criticism.

Trump has sued ABC, Meta and the Des Moines Register and threatened legal action against The New York Times. Days ago he even sued Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal of all people.

Trump, unbelievably, put out an AI generated video in which former President Barack Obama was being arrested and is also releasing malicious information about Hillary Clinton.

Sen. Adam Schiff, who led an impeachment inquiry into Trump during his last term in Congress, is now being targeted by the Justice Department. The president says Schiff should be "brought to justice."

Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, is now being threatened with removal from his post because he has refused to lower interest rates and insists that the Fed maintain its independence from the White House. The Supreme Court says Trump needs a reason to fire Powell. So now Trump has come up with a ridiculous claim: that Powell mismanaged federal funds for an over-budget building renovation. Really?

That is just in the last week.

But anyone paying attention knows there is more. Much more.

Trump recently hung massive, larger than life banners of himself on the U.S. Department of Agriculture for all to see.

There was his $45 million military parade.

He has threatened to impeach judges who rule against his policies and his administration openly defies Supreme Court orders.

He is threatening to use the Department of Justice to take away ActBlue, the platform many Democratic campaigns, including our presidential campaigns, use to fundraise.

He has extorted millions of dollars from major law firms that represented clients who opposed Trump or his interests.

He has withheld funding from some of the leading universities in the country because their students and faculty hold views that Trump disagrees with.

This is a president who, alongside side his fellow oligarchs in Russia, Saudi Arabia and around the globe, wants a world ruled by authoritarians in which might makes right, and where democracy and moral values cease to exist.

Dangerous stuff.

So what do we do?

First, I would ask my Republican colleagues for their help. And while I will not be holding my breath, I would urge them to not continue telling the American people how much they love America if, at this critical moment, they are not prepared to stand up to defend American democracy and our way of life.

Stop the hypocrisy. Show some independence. Stop worshiping Trump like he was a king.

For the rest of us, to effectively oppose right-wing authoritarianism, we cannot simply go back to the failed status quo of the last several decades. In order to fight this trend, we need to strengthen the global coalition of progressive democrats.

While authoritarians promote division and hatred, we promote unity, inclusion, and an agenda based on economic, social, racial, and environmental justice.

We must take the opportunity to reconceptualize a genuinely progressive global community based on human solidarity, that recognizes that every person on this planet shares a common humanity, that we all want our children to grow up healthy, to have a good education, have decent jobs, drink clean water, breathe clean air, and live in peace.

Lastly, and most importantly, the American people, no matter what their political persuasion, must make it clear that American democracy will not be destroyed.

I believe this is a turning point – a moment of enormous consequence in world history. Do we go forward toward a more democratic, just and humane world? Or do we retreat back into oligarchy, authoritarianism, colonialism and the rejection of international law?

As Americans, we cannot stay quiet as Trump abandons centuries of our commitment to democracy and rule of law.

But what does that mean?

For us, it means continuing to hold our rallies. We have already held almost 20 rallies in 12 states with over 250,000 people in attendance. And in the next few weeks, we will be going to North Carolina and West Virginia to continue that work.

We have hired organizers in congressional districts where Republicans won with slim margins and will be expanding that work to include organizers in many states where progressives are running for the House and the Senate. We have to organize and rally our people to elect people who will stand up to those who support or turn a blind eye to the rapid movement toward authoritarianism in our country.

We have also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for many of those candidates we support. That is work that will continue, because many of these candidates are taking on the entire corporate, media, and political establishment of this country.

Together, we must fight for our long-held values and work with people around the world who share them.

Stand up. Fight back. Continue to get involved. Our job right now is to remind Trump and his allies what democracy is all about.

Not me. Us.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

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