Bernie AOC Pro Democracy Rally; Kiley Tweets Sycophantic Trumpisms
Message from Placer County Democratic
Central Committee Chair
Nick Bennett
April 2025
Following Tuesday’s rally, where Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke to approximately 30,000 people at Folsom Lake College, Representative Kevin Kiley responded by saying that instead of the “radical policies of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. . . Our communities have chosen a different way. We support law enforcement. We are not sanctuary cities. We support small businesses and workers. As a result, we have maintained a quality of life that doesn't exist in other parts of California. My priority will always be to protect that quality of life. I will fight against the radical socialist policies Bernie and AOC want to inflict on us.”
Kiley says he supports law enforcement, but where is Kiley when it comes to the enforcement of the law? Kiley is silent when the Trump administration ignores court orders and the rights of those living here by violating the due process protections enshrined in our Constitution.
Kiley says that he opposes sanctuary cities, but where is Kiley when legal residents, including permanent residents, who are active and productive members of our communities, are afraid that they will be thrown into an unmarked van because of something they said?
Kiley says that he supports small businesses and workers, but where is Kiley when Trump’s tariffs disrupt the supply chains of small businesses in his district? Where is he when federal workers in his district have their careers derailed for no reason and the Trump administration tries to dismantle unions?
As great as Placer County is, it is not the only place in California that enjoys an enviable quality of life. But we do enjoy a high quality of life here for many reasons. It is because of our great public schools, even though our teachers and librarians are increasingly having their reputations and credibility attacked. It is because we have access to great healthcare, even though Medicaid, which is vital to many of Kiley’s constituents, is on Congress’s chopping block. It is because we have abundant access to some of the most picturesque parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for recreation and relaxation, even though the Trump administration is stripping away the laws that protect that natural beauty. It is because of the strides that we have made in making sure that every eligible person gets a voice through the election process, even though Kiley and Republicans are trying to add hurdles that will disenfranchise millions of voters. You see, the radical policies being inflicted on our quality of life are not coming from Sanders or Ocasio-Cortez; they are coming from Republicans like Kevin Kiley.
I, too, want our quality of life protected, but as a Democrat, I also want to make sure that everyone has access to that quality of life. That means protecting the employees of the Forest Service who help protect our rural communities from wildfires. That means ensuring that Placer County’s high school seniors have access to affordable higher education and career technical education. That means having a legal system and trade policy that prioritizes fairness and consistency over the whims of a president. That means acknowledging the harm that climate change is doing to our planet and economy instead of trying to erase every mention of it, which Republicans are doing. That means protecting and strengthening protections for workers and consumers who do not have the resources to go up against multi-national corporations in court. All of these issues affect our quality of life, so where is Kevin Kiley on them?
Caring for our neighbors is not socialist. Caring for those who are vulnerable or struggling is not radical. 30,000 people showed up for Bernie and AOC because they believe in a government that uplifts and restores the dignity of people, instead of serving only those who buy access. When people in Placer County and California’s 3rd Congressional District ask where are those who will protect their quality of life from Trump’s chaos and Republican policies that leave our communities suffering and in peril, it will be Democrats who show up.