Independent US Senator Bernie Sanders has issued a call for his supporters to “stand up and fight back” against a rising tide of “oligarchy, authoritarianism [and] kleptocracy” that is the “state of America today”.

In an interview with US television news media and in a post on social media, Sanders said the US economy must work for everyone “not just Elon Musk”.

Sanders said the US was going through “difficult times” and that US democracy must be maintained at this “unprecedented moment in American history”.