Tonight Bernie Sanders returned to the campaign trail with a rally in Davenport, Iowa. This marks his return to Iowa and the beginning of a number of meetups and rallies this weekend. His rally was at the Mississippi Hall at the RiverCenter on Friday, April 5. The event began at 7 p.m. Central. According to Bernie Sanders’ staff, about 1,200 people were in attendance today. Bernie addressed the unique rural issues that Iowa faces and the need to stand together against powerful institutions in America. Read on to learn more about how many people attended today, what happened, and to see crowd photos and videos.

The Mississippi River Hall has different capacities depending on how the event is set up, and that capacity is increased if it’s combined with adjoining meeting rooms on the first floor. The full hall has a capacity of 1,500 people with a theater setup. The venue looked full in photos and videos, and Sanders’ campaign estimated that 1,200 people were there today, which is a nearly full venue.

Here’s a look at the lines before the rally:

Line forming for @BernieSanders rally at 7 PM in downtown Davenport, Iowa pic.twitter.com/cj8LWRLwep — David Nelson (@DavidNelsonNews) April 5, 2019

During his speech, Bernie noted that the “radical” ideas they espoused in 2016 are now being supported by Democrats and Democratic candidates from City Council all the way up to Presidential candidates.

“It is not me, it is us. I say that because that is a profound truth. All of you know … real change has never taken place from the top on down. You can have the best intentioned, most honored President in the world, but that President cannot do it alone. Here is the truth … the power of the special interests in this country … They have so much money and they have so much power that the only way we beat them, the only way we transform this country, is when millions of people stand up and say loudly and clearly, ‘Enough is enough.'”

Live: Bernie Sanders holds rally in QC https://t.co/tWwtfO9oZ2 — OurQuadCities.com (@0urQuadCities) April 6, 2019

Bernie spoke on his platform, including guaranteeing health care as a right and not a privilege. “We have a dysfunctional health care system… We spend twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other nation, and yet our life expectancy is lower…and our health care outcomes are in many cases worse.”

My favorite part of EVERY Bernie Sanders rally is the sound of joyful people cheering him as he takes the stage. This Davenport crowd is LOUD! ??#Bernie2020 #BernieInIowa — The Bern Identity (@bern_identity) April 6, 2019

Bernie said he’s tired of hearing about people in this country who lost loved ones because they couldn’t afford medicine.

“And today we say to Walmart … and other low-wage employers: pay your workers a living wage. Here in Iowa and in many parts of this country workers are trying to get by at $8, $9, $10 an hour and you know what … you can’t get buy… So yes we are going to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, $15 an hour. Nobody who works 40 hours a week in America should be living in poverty… And yes we’re going to make it easier for workers to join unions, not harder.”

One of my favorite quotes from Bernie rallies, which he just said in Davenport again: "Nobody who works 40 hours a week in America should be living in poverty." That's very true. #BernieinDavenport #BernieinIowa #BernieinIA — StephanieDubeDwilson (@StephanieDube) April 6, 2019

Bernie then said one of the real outrages is how America treats the most vulnerable people, including children.

Bernie then said he met with some young teachers in his office a couple days ago, getting graduate degrees. One young man said he’d be $180,000 in debt by the time he left school. “Dentists here in Iowa: $400,000 in debt. People should not be punished with neverending debt simply because they got the education they needed.”

It is just basically crazy once you start thinking outside the box. Why should people be punished just because they did the right thing?”

Sanders also talked about climate change: “In my view we have a moral responsibility to make certain that the planet we leave our children and grandchildren is a planet that’s healthy and inhabitable.”

He addressed the prison industrial complex and the need to bring criminal justice reform to the country. And he emphasized the need to end the war on drugs. “This is another area where we have made real progress in recent years. Last year I was here in Iowa we talked about decriminalizing marijuana. It was thought to be a radical idea. It ain’t radical anymore.”

2 mins to kickoff pic.twitter.com/WPGEzrOqtL — Tahera Rahman (@TaheraTV) April 6, 2019

He talked about holding Wall Street executives and CEOs accountable, and how wrong it is for people who possessed marijuana to face jail while CEOs did not.

He then addressed how he will pay for his platform changes.

“How are you going to pay for it?… How many folks here know how much Amazon paid in taxes last year? … Amazon paid nothing in federal income taxes, happens to be owned by the wealthiest guy in the country. We are saying to Amazon and we are saying to other major corporations and we are saying to the top 1 percent, yes under a Sanders administration you are going to start paying your fair share of taxes.”

This will include ending tax havens around the world, he said.

After speaking for just over an hour, @BernieSanders is done in Davenport, now mingling with the crowd. pic.twitter.com/0UDsheRcuF — Kevin Hardy (@kevinmhardy) April 6, 2019

Then he talked about military spending.

“We are going to invest in affordable housing. We are going to invest in public education. We are not going to invest in neverending wars.”

Someone in the crowd yelled out “Give them hell Bernie!” And he responded, “And they deserve it.”

Bernie just talked about not funding neverending wars. Someone yelled: "Give them hell Bernie!" And Bernie nodded, answering: "And they deserve it." #BernieInIowa #BernieInDavenport #BernieInIA #Bernie2020 — StephanieDubeDwilson (@StephanieDube) April 6, 2019

Later in the speech, Bernie announced that they already had more than one million people signing up to volunteer.

Then he addressed the need to help rural communities.

“One of the areas we are going to focus on…the very serious needs of rural America. You have been ignored for too long. In my state and in your state…we have seen more and more young people leave our small towns that they grew up in and that they love. Not because they don’t want to stay there, but because there are fewer and fewer decent-paying jobs.”

New for @BernieSanders 2020 campaign: local musical acts before every Iowa rally (so far, at least). #IACaucus pic.twitter.com/fuvtDSx6y3 — Kevin Hardy (@kevinmhardy) April 5, 2019

He talked about family farmers going out of business and illnesses of despair increasing in rural communities. “Brothers and sisters, we need policies in rural America that represent the needs of working people and farmers, not agribusiness and multi-national corporations.”

The speech ended with encouraging words of all that they had accomplished so far. “Despite who is in the White House right now…we are changing the conversation and state after state is moving forward in doing the right thing.”

“In the next couple of months you’re going to see a lot of people passing through Iowa.” He said he likes that Iowa takes candidates seriously, engages in debates, and respects grassroots democracy. “You’re going to hear many folks…telling you what their vision is for America. I just want to say a few words about what together I want to accomplish when we’re in the White House. When we’re in the White House, we together are going to enact a federal jobs guarantee. … We have to transform our energy system. We need universal PreK. We need to strengthen public education. We need more doctors and nurses…because we’re going to provide healthcare to everybody. We are an aging society and our seniors are going to need more help. There is enough work to be done to transform this country. … Let us make sure we guarantee jobs to all those workers who are prepared to do it.”

Then he talked about building affordable housing, ending the epidemic of gun violence, banning assault weapons, ending income inequities, and ending racial disparity.

He talked about a woman’s right to choose and acknowledged that in some areas like Iowa that might be controversial. However, he added that Republicans want to get government out of private lives “except when you are a woman.”

“There are people who are pro-choice and people who are pro-life, but that decision must rest with the woman … not the government,” he said.

Bernie said the struggle isn’t just about defeating Donald Trump, but taking on powerful institutions in the country. “If we are going to transform this country we need to stand up and fight back in a way this country has never seen… Are you prepared to do that?”

The crowd cheered in response.

If we are prepared to stand together, believing in love and compassion, not divisiveness and hatred … there is nothing that we can not accomplish. … This is an historic campaign… The one percent has unlimited amounts of money… But at the end of the day, the one percent is one percent. We’ve got the 99 percent!”

The crowd cheered again.

If you missed Bernie’s rally, you can rewatch it below.

Bernie Rallies Supporters in Davenport, IowaJoin us live from Davenport, Iowa as we continue our work to win the election, transform the country to make a government and economy that work for all. Add your name to say you’re with us: berniesanders.com 2019-04-06T02:17:42.000Z

After today, Bernie Sanders has several more events in Iowa:

Town meeting in Muscatine Saturday at 12 p.m. at 600 Kindler Ave.

Town meeting in Burlington on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Aldo Leopold Middle School

Rally in Fairfield on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center

Town meeting in Oskaloosa on Sunday at 12 p.m. at Musco Technology Center

Town meeting in Malcolm on Sunday at 3 p.m. at 212 Main St.

RT OFB2020: Join Bernie in Iowa for a rally in Fairfield and Davenport or a town meeting in Muscatine, Burlington, and Oskaloosa. #bernieiniowa https://t.co/qVpjpiezWbhttps://t.co/eyzRck3SBuhttps://t.co/T57dZii8lNhttps://t.co/m53gt9AyAU

… pic.twitter.com/TLo2MfRvVO — ? #BernieSanders for President 2020? (@WeLoveBernie20) April 4, 2019

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