Thread by @daveweigel

It’s happening

Green New Deal town hall begins with 30 seconds of silence in honor of the Piscataway tribe whose land DC is built on.

Also the Daily Caller's "Michael Moore" character was filming outside so look for at least one "check out these crazy leftists" video soon.

First speech is about intersectionality: "How many of you know what it truly means to say Black Lives Matter? You cannot build a future; you cannot change the world; in your soft circle. Walk out of your tribe."

First speaker nods at the whiteness of the crowd: "I've never seen Cramton Auditorium with this many white people." Lights go up so she can take a selfie with the aforementioned mostly-white crowd.

Sunrise's Varshini Prakash says that because of the movement, "we've spent more time discussing climate this year than we did in the last two presidential elections."

Not wrong!

Boos at the rally when a speaker says that SOME people think there can be a "middle ground" on climate. This is a reference to Joe Biden, who wasn't named.

The crowd cheers when Sen. Ed Markey says some call the Green New Deal "socialism." Markey refers to tax breaks for energy industry: "Give us some of that socialism that the oil and gas companies have had for so long!" Standing ovation!

Bernie up now, talking about centering the Green New Deal as a model jobs program for the world. "The workers in the coal mines and on the oil rigs are not our enemies... we will provide a just transition that protects the working families in that industry."

Bernie notes that voters under 30 turn out at the lowest rate of any age group.

"We would have voted if you were there!" yells one audience member.

Naomi Klein: "Tonight, you saw Ed Markey come out as a democratic eco-socialist!"

Klein is the second speaker to remind the crowd of Biden: Our "so-called friends," she says, want to "find the middle ground." Lots of boos.

A third boo for Biden: Justice Democrats' Alexandra Rojas asks the crowd, "Who here liked it when Joe Biden said he was middle of the road on climate policy?"

A fourth swing at Biden, sort of: Sunrise's Prakash says that "some" candidates are not behind the Green New Deal and still allies with fossil fuel execs. "This approach, straight-up, is the death sentence for our generation."

Prakash announces that Sunrise will have a "People's Stage" near the second presidential primary debate in Detroit, open to anyone who meets three demands: Pledge not to take fossil fuel money, support Green New Deal, support one climate-focused debate.

Now @AOC is onstage, attacking "conservatives in both parties" who say the GND goes too far.

"No middle ground!" shouts someone in the crowd.

"No middle ground is right!" says AOC.

AOC makes the case against Biden a bit more explicit, though still doesn't use his name: "I will be damned if the same politicians who refused to act then come back today and say we need a 'middle of the road' approach to save our lives."