Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was in McAllen on Friday as part of his tour to gather Democratic support, especially in Republican-led congressional districts.

Sanders’ visit at the McAllen Performing Arts Center was part of his “Fight Oligarchy” tour to also recruit progressive candidates to run for office, and train organizers across the country.

Sanders spoke for over an hour to the packed auditorium. Among the topics discussed was the Republican “Big Beautiful Bill” of tax and spending cuts. 

“Instead of giving tax breaks to billionaires, which is what Trump wants, our demand is that when the rich have never had it so good they're going to start to pay their fair share of taxes,” Sanders said.

Sanders expressed concerns about cuts to Medicaid that he said would impact poor families and community healthcare centers, putting them at risk of downsizing their services.

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“It would provide more than $400 billion to large corporations who will use those tax breaks to bring in robotics and artificial intelligence, which will throw workers in this country out on the street,” Sanders said.

Among those attending was a woman from Brownsville who said the Democratic Party needs to “start writing the narrative on immigration, otherwise the Republican Party will continue to define it.”

“I think [they] need to admit that immigration is broken, and that it needs to be fixed with an easier way for undocumented people to become legal,” Gabriela Zavaleta said.

Prior to Sanders’ speech, Hidalgo County GOP Chair Robert Cantu issued the following statement:

“Bernie Sanders and the Democrats understand South Texas is turning red and are afraid of losing more races down here in the midterm elections. The problem is their message is not resonating with the voters here in South Texas."

San Antonio congressman Greg Casar also joined Sanders during the rally to speak out against the Texas school choice voucher bill, and recent immigration raids throughout the country.

Sanders said he'll be continuing with his message in Louisiana and more than a dozen other states prior to the November 2026 mid-term elections.

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