Rep. Ro Khanna said Democrats should “focus on the economic issues” in the after the 2024 electionswhich dealt the party serious blows – and led to a reckoning on the way forward.
“We didn’t have a compelling enough economic vision,” Khanna, a California Democrat, said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
President-elect Donald Trump achieved a decisive victory about Vice President Kamala Harris last week, when Democrats lost support from key demographic groups in the 2020 election. Khanna, a member of the party’s progressive wing, attributed the rifts within the Democratic coalition to shortcomings in the party’s economic message.
“The Democratic Party should have one simple mission, and that is to address the economic hardships and struggles of many Americans,” Khanna said. “Not just working-class Americans – a large segment of Americans who feel like the American Dream has slipped away from their families and children.”
Khanna said new voices in Congress, such as Reps. Pat Ryan, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Chris Deluzio, have encouraged Democrats to tell a “better economic story,” emphasizing a vision of raising the minimum wage , tackling childcare and building new factories. .
“I think this can unite our party — moderates and progressives — transcend race and help us with Latino voters, black voters and white working-class voters,” Khanna said. “And we have a better vision of that than Donald Trump.”
In the days after the election, some Democrats indicated that the economic message should have been central to the campaign, while arguing that the party was focused on identity politics. But Khanna said that while he has been clear about the importance of economic issues, “I don’t think we should walk away” from issues like standing up for transgender rights and equal rights.
Khanna urged Democrats not to “shun your beliefs,” adding that despite the problems, along with a focus on the economy, the party can still be successful.
“I think we can win people over even though they may not agree with us on a particular social issue,” Khanna said.
In Michigan, Harris lost key support in Arab-American areas during Israel’s war in Gaza. Khanna said he believes Harris would have won Michigan “had the failed policy on Gaza been taken more into account.” He added that he has seen this even “beyond Michigan as a concern for a lot of young people and a lot of progressives.”
Amid the election, Democrats have also pointed to President Biden’s late decision to drop out of the race and endorse Harris, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Khanna said that while he has “great respect for Speaker Pelosi,” he “chuckled” at the idea.
“The day he got out, we had Democrats with the most exaggerated superlatives, comparing him to George Washington, saying he had done the most honorable thing,” Khanna said. “So now to go back and criticize him seems a bit contradictory.”
Khanna said Harris was a “winnable campaign,” adding that “anyone now saying ‘this wasn’t a winnable campaign’ didn’t say that in August.”
“The reason we didn’t win in the end is that we didn’t listen enough to the people on the ground” about emphasizing economic issues, Khanna said. “The reason I’m hopeful for the future is that we have the material.”
