More than 150,000 people tuned in Monday night to a Zoom call featuring prominent progressive lawmakers, organizers, and labor leaders who have united in an effort to help Democratic nominee Kamala Harris defeat former President Donald Trump and the far-right forces he represents in November. The “Progressives for Harris” call, which lasted more than three hours, served as a powerful display of unity among diverse factions within the progressive movement, all rallying behind Harris to ensure Trump’s defeat.
The event, organized by the Working Families Party and other progressive groups, comes at a pivotal moment as Harris prepares to announce her vice-presidential running mate, a decision viewed as a key indicator of how she intends to campaign and govern. Progressives have thrown their weight behind Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who is reportedly one of the final two contenders for the spot on the Democratic ticket. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is also under consideration, though some progressives have expressed concerns about his record.
Despite the anticipation surrounding Harris’s choice of running mate, the call largely focused on the broader challenges facing the nation and the urgent need to prevent another Trump presidency. Among the speakers were Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson, Representatives Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and leaders of the Uncommitted Movement.
Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party, emceed the event and set the tone with a powerful call to action. “I’m inviting you all to get in formation with the pro-democracy forces uniting against American fascism as well as fascism all around the world,” Mitchell said. He highlighted the broad coalition that includes Black men and women, LGBTQ communities, labor unions, and millions of workers across the country and the globe. “We cannot be spectators,” Mitchell added. “We must be agents.”
The urgency of the moment was underscored by recent polling from Data for Progress, which showed that strong majorities of voters in key battleground states support central elements of the progressive agenda. These include raising taxes on the rich and large corporations, expanding Medicare and Social Security benefits, hiking the federal minimum wage, and reining in out-of-control housing costs. The data suggests that these issues could be pivotal in swaying undecided voters and galvanizing turnout among the Democratic base.
Senator Bernie Sanders, who commissioned the survey, emphasized the stakes of the upcoming election. “My message is pretty clear,” Sanders said during the event, “and that is: All of us together must do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris as our next president.” Sanders did not mince words in his assessment of Trump, describing him as “a pathological liar, somebody who I think just doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies, someone convicted of 34 felonies, someone who is a convicted sexual abuser, and someone who as a businessman in the private sector was involved in 4,000 different lawsuits.”
Sanders’s remarks were met with widespread applause from the virtual audience, many of whom share his view that another four years of Trump would pose an existential threat to the nation. “For the sake of our kids and our grandchildren, and for the planet, Trump must be defeated and Kamala Harris must be elected,” Sanders added.
While the event showcased broad support for Harris among leading progressives and a commitment to preventing Trump from winning another term, grassroots organizers made it clear that they intend to hold Harris accountable on critical issues. One such issue is the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which has been exacerbated by U.S. foreign policy. Elise Joshi, executive director of Gen Z for Change, spoke passionately about the need for Harris to take a strong stance on this issue.
“Gen Z is determined to make sure Trump is nowhere near the White House ever again,” Joshi said during the livestream. According to estimates, nearly 41 million members of Gen Z—people between the ages of 18 and 27 this year—will be eligible to vote in November. “At the same time, Gen Z for Change must honor where this generation is at,” Joshi continued. “Heeding the calls of young people means calling for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, and using the leverage at our disposal to achieve one, including a weapons embargo. With that, and a working-class agenda, we will see record turnout from Gen Z in November.”
The stakes of the 2024 election could not be higher, and the progressive movement is mobilizing like never before to ensure that Trump does not return to the White House. “Our nation will not survive in any form that we can be proud of if we elect a pathological liar like Trump,” Sanders said in his closing remarks. “For the future of our country and our planet, we must elect Kamala Harris.”
With the election just months away, the progressive coalition is gearing up for a fierce battle. The unity and determination displayed during Monday’s call are a testament to the movement’s strength and resolve. As Sanders put it, “We cannot afford to sit this one out. The future of our democracy depends on it.”
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