Ro Khanna Says 2028 White House Run Is A Family Decision

SAN JOSE, CA – Congressman Ro Khanna has left open the possibility of running for US president in 2028, saying the decision would involve his family but that he intends to remain active in the debate over America’s future.

Asked by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd whether he was considering a presidential run, Khanna said about 20 Democrats were considering it and perhaps 10 or 12 would eventually enter the race.

“It’s a family decision,” Khanna said during their discussion at the Asia Society. “Whether I decide to run or support someone who runs, I, I’m gonna be very involved in the conversation.”

Khanna said a national campaign would be difficult in a crowded field. He described the 2028 election as a choice over whether the United States would embrace a diverse society or turn inward.

“I certainly want to be part of that conversation,” he said.

Khanna argued that Democrats would need an economic program reaching communities that had lost industrial jobs. Voters had to see a future for themselves and their children, he said, before appeals to national ideals would carry force.

He linked that argument to immigration, saying politicians had blamed immigrants for factory closures and failed economic policies. A better response, he said, would be to bring investment and jobs to communities that felt excluded from the gains of the new economy.

Khanna also spoke about the Indian roots of his political outlook. His grandfather, he said, was jailed by the British in the 1930s and 1940s for his role in Mahatma Gandhi’s independence movement. That family history gave him an early sense that politics could change lives.

Khanna was born in Philadelphia to parents who had immigrated from India. As a student in Chicago, he knocked on doors for a state Senate candidate who later became President Barack Obama.

Much of his exchange with Rudd centered on what kind of country the next president should lead. Khanna called for economic opportunities across the United States, a stronger role for workers in decisions about artificial intelligence and a foreign policy that could regain the trust of other countries.

He said America’s strength lay partly in its ability to bring together people with different histories. But he argued that making the case for a diverse democracy required addressing the economic insecurity that had taken hold in former industrial communities.

Khanna represents a California district that includes part of Silicon Valley. His remarks came during a wider discussion at the Asia Society on technology, US-China relations, immigration and the direction of American foreign policy. (IANS)