Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) attended a fundraiser for his campaign at the Avalon nightclub in Los Angeles on Wednesday, where he was introduced onstage by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.
Coming on the heels of Sanders’ strong performance in Tuesday night’s Democrat debate in Las Vegas, the fundraiser reportedly drew hundreds of supporters of the Vermont senator, with tickets going for just $25. In his speech, Sanders focused on the populist platform that has fueled his campaign thus far, according to Variety.
The self-described Democratic socialist railed against income inequality and blasted the media for covering the presidential race “like it were a baseball game or a soap opera.”
“If I were standing here tonight making some vicious attack against Hillary Clinton or anybody else, it would be a front-page story,” Sanders said. “But if you talk about why the middle class is disappearing as almost all the income and wealth go to the top 1%, not a big story. So what the political revolution is is forcing a debate, not about trivia, but about real issues.”
Sanders has captured the support of the Democrat party’s progressive base by outflanking frontrunner Hillary Clinton from the left on many issues, including tax reform, where the Vermont senator has not yet ruled out a 90% tax rate on the country’s top earners. Sanders’ campaign has drawn support from several progressive Democrats in Hollywood, including actors Mark Ruffalo and Sarah Silverman, musician Neil Young, and The View co-host Raven-Symone.
In introducing the candidate, MacFarlane said that Sanders had “removed my trepidation from saying aloud that capitalism and Democratic socialism, that not-so-scary word, can and should co-exist.”
The Ted director also said that Sanders was the only candidate at the debate who gave a satisfactory answer to a question about America’s biggest national security threat.
“Senator Sanders was the only candidate on that stage who gave the correct answer: climate change,” MacFarlane said. “Of all our biggest challenges, social inequality, healthcare, this one is the one that must go immediately to the front of the line. This is the only one with a non-negotiable timetable.”
Earlier in the day, Sanders taped an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show that is scheduled to run Thursday. DeGeneres posted a video to Twitter showing Sanders “ready for his entrance” on the show.
Sanders also reportedly attended a fundraiser Wednesday at the home of Syd and Linda Leibovitch in Beverly Hills, where approximately 300 attendees paid $250 each to meet the candidate. According to Variety, Sanders joked about the “proletariat” Liebovitch home as the band America played in the backyard and valets parked cars in front.