Sanders draws big crowd to Tacoma Dome

TACOMA, Wash. — More than 17,000 people packed the Tacoma Dome to see Democratic candidate for president Bernie Sanders Monday night.

The visit comes just a few weeks before ballots drop for the March 10 presidential primary.

Sanders won New Hampshire’s presidential primary last week, edging out Pete Buttigieg.

He opened the rally with a strong attack against the man he hopes to face off against in the fall.

“Mr. Trump, you are a liar you are a fraud and the American people are not going to reelect you,” Sanders said to loud cheers.

Billionaire Democratic Candidate Mike Bloomberg was next. Bloomberg is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising in a late bid to win the nomination.

“We are a democracy, not an oligarchy, you're not going to buy this election,” Sanders said, again to cheers.

In an interview before the speech, Sanders responded to news that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has pledged to contribute $10 Billion to efforts to fight climate change.

“We are fighting for the future of this planet, that's what we're fighting for. And I'm delighted that Mr. Bezos is prepared to engage in that struggle,” Sanders said.

But Sanders also indicated he might move to breakup Amazon and Microsoft if he's elected president

Told Seattle’s downtown Macy’s store is closing, Sanders offered hope to the retail workers losing their jobs. “What we believe is that in this economy right now, there is an enormous amount of work to be done. The Green New Deal which I am supporting will create up to 20 million good paying union jobs,” Sanders promised.

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Sanders supporters are beyond enthusiastic, but some have been abusive to critics online.

Asked if he needed to do more to address the nastiness from his supporters, he responded with some skepticism that his supporters are to blame.

“Well we have millions of supporters… I don’t want any of my supporters, and it remains to be seen whether they are supporters, by the way. As you know the internet is a wild west now, anybody can say anything they want in the name of anybody. But let me be very clear. I do not want anybody who claims to be a supporter of Bernie Sanders to be making ugly and vicious personal attacks against anybody.”

Eight candidates remain in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, who placed fourth in the New Hampshire primary, has scheduled a rally in Seattle for Saturday.

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