The following is a transcript of an interview with Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan”, airing November 10, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re now joined by Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna. He’s in California this morning. Good morning to you. This has been a tough week for Democrats. I don’t need to tell you that, but the Congressman, I mean, in order to align with the American people, the Democrats and the Harris campaign, told them that the fate of democracy itself was at stake. Was that a cynical political tactic, or if it is reality, what is the plan now?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, Margaret, I think what was at stake is the degradation of American democracy, the crudity of political discourse, the idea that you have people who are undocumented, 12 million of them, who may be victims of a violation of their rights. The climate issues and their reversal. I never said there would be no future elections, and I was never one of those people who said there wouldn’t be a 2026 or 2028 in a year or two. Donald Trump will be a cripple. duck. But I do think we have to make sure that we stand up for the rights of the people in this country and that we look ahead and see what we can do to take back the House and the White House.
MARGARET BRENNAN: When we look at CBS polls and compare Harris in 2024 to Biden in 2020, you can clearly see that the Democratic coalition lost support among Latino voters, young voters and women. Republicans also made real gains here among men of color. Why do you think this rift is happening?
REP. RO KHANNA: We didn’t have a compelling enough economic vision. The Democratic Party should have one simple mission, and that is to address the economic hardships and struggles of many Americans, not just working-class Americans; a large segment of Americans who feel that the American Dream has slipped away from their families and their children, and you have new voices in Congress, people like Pat Ryan, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Chris Deluzio, who are saying, look, we need a vision on building new factories, on helping to raise the minimum wage, on dealing with childcare, and on emphasizing that our party has a better economic story. I think this could unite our party, the moderates and the progressives. And it transcends race and will help us with Latino voters, black voters, white working-class voters, and we have a better vision of that than Donald Trump.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, it’s interesting during this Monday morning quarterbacking to hear from so many Democrats who are now saying that they think the economic message should have been the focus, but they felt somehow limited by that focus on identity. politics. Tom Suozzi of New York brought that up by talking about Republicans being able to weaponize anarchy on college campuses, defund the police, and fight gender issues and girls’ sports. Do you think that this movement politics was actually incredibly damaging to the left, because a lot of it came from the progressive wing of which you are a member.
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, I’ve always said that we should emphasize the economic issues, but I don’t think we should run away from standing up for trans rights, for equal rights for people, for responsibly educating American history . There are two ways you can be true to your values, Margaret. First, if someone disagrees with you, we should respect that disagreement, not cancel or shame it. Don’t shy away from your beliefs, have a reasonable conversation. I did that with Megyn Kelly on a podcast about trans rights. I stuck to my guns, but we had a reasonable conversation. The second thing is, if we highlight the economic hardships that people are facing, I have $12 trillion in my district in Silicon Valley, while cities like Johnstown have been hollowed out. Galesburg, Illinois were hollowed out. We can build new factories. We can build a new industry. We can create new economic opportunities. We have a vision on how to do that. Biden -President Biden started it. I think we can win people over, even if they may disagree with us on a particular social issue.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you specifically about your district. As you just mentioned, Silicon Valley was seen as reliably blue, but especially in this election you saw money going to Donald Trump. You’ve seen some very prominent tech names, Elon Musk, significantly. And JD Vance, the vice presidential candidate. He really reached out to the tech community as part of that campaign. What does Silicon Valley think it will get from a Trump administration? Is it, isn’t it a capital gains tax? Doesn’t it regulate crypto? What do people in your district think they will get from Donald Trump?
REP. RO KHANNA: First of all, Margaret, 70% of Silicon Valley still supported Vice President Harris and the Democrats —
MARGARET BRENNAN: – Yes
REP. KHANNA: But you’re right that there was a derailment and probably 20-30% now support Donald Trump. They have different reasons for doing it. Some of them want more freedom of expression. Some of them want deregulation. Some of them want tax cuts. Some of them want AI not to be regulated. Some of them were concerned about crypto. But I think what Democrats need to remind people of, and I reminded Elon of this, is that Tesla got funding from President Obama. SpaceX started because Ash Carter, under President Obama, helped Elon get that facility. The Democrats are the party that invested in the science and technology to help build Silicon Valley, and we can be the party that helps AI robotics build new factories and new industries in different parts of the country. When we debate policy, we have a better vision of how to achieve American prosperity in a modern economy. And if we focus on that, I think we will regain the majority and win in 2028.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Former Speaker Pelosi told The New York Times that there were reporting errors, yes, but she also said that there should have been an open primary system here, and that President Biden’s decision to back Vice President Harris made that immediately impossible made. Do you agree with her?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, look, I have a lot of respect for Speaker Pelosi, but I chuckled a little bit when people said this about President Biden because the day he got out, we had Democrats with the most over-the-top superlatives. He compared him to George Washington and said he had done the most honorable thing. So now going back and criticizing him seems a bit contradictory. I think this was a winnable campaign. Even when he was released, Vice President Harris was ahead by five points in some polls. Anyone who now says this wasn’t a winnable campaign didn’t say that in August either. The reason we didn’t win in the end is that we didn’t listen enough to people on the ground, people like Chris Deluzio and Pat Ryan, who said, talk about the economy, talk about people’s economic problems. Convince people that you have a better policy and a better vision. The reason I’m hopeful for the future is that we have the material. Actually, you can’t build new factories just with tariffs and tax cuts. You need federal funding. There is actual investment in apprenticeships. And I think in the long run the American people will see the truth of the policy ideas.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You were a surrogate for Joe Biden. You were a surrogate for Kamala Harris at the time, and on this show you defended both. You have often created space in the Gaza area. You said, when you went to college campuses, when you talked to progressives, when you talked to voters of color, not just Arabs and Muslims. You heard there’s a problem here. Do you think the numbers you saw, especially in Michigan, validated your position, or was there just a greater force at work?
REP. RO KHANNA: I think she certainly would have won Michigan if the failing policy on Gaza had been taken more into account. That was not my position. That was the view of many people I heard locally. I also think outside of Michigan this was really a concern for a lot of young people and a lot of progressives. Now I hope that President Trump has gotten some of the votes for the Muslim and Arab community. I was just on a two-part CODEL in Saudi Arabia. They have said that if the president wants a deal with Saudi Arabia, Palestinian statehood and a two-state solution must be central. And I hope that after the war we can work to actually do that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Ro Khanna, Congressman, thank you very much for your time today. We’ll be right back.
