NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California who is likely thinking about running for president in 2028, is stepping up his attacks on Vice President JD Vance, who is seen as President Donald Trump’s heir apparent.
Khanna took aim at Vance in two high-profile speeches this week. The first was on Monday in Ohio, which is the vice president’s home state, and the second was on Tuesday at Yale Law School, where both Khanna and Vance earned their law degrees.
Khanna said that Vance was trying to “win public adoration by making people angry and seeing legal limits as bothersome things that should be ignored.”
Vance hasn’t told Trump to ignore Supreme Court decisions, but in a very public tweet two months ago, the vice president criticized federal judges for trying to stop the Trump administration’s controversial plans to cut the federal workforce by a large amount. Vance said the judges were trying to “control the legitimate power of the executive.”
“Vance says the president, elected by the people, should tell the court what the Constitution means, and if the court disagrees, let them try to enforce their ruling — that the president, as a co-equal, may simply ignore the court’s judgment of the law,” Khanna said in his Tuesday speech.
The case of a Salvadoran citizen who had lived in Maryland for about 15 years and was deported to El Salvador because of a “administrative error” was brought up by Khanna. The Trump administration says the person was a member of the MS-13 gang. Vance’s response was emphasized.
“Let me say this as clearly as I can: JD Vance, your cold indifference to the lives of vulnerable immigrants betrays every principle that this law school was built to uphold,” Khanna said. “Your affiliation with this law school is now a stain on the degree of every Yale graduate.”
Khanna’s repeated swearing didn’t seem to bother Vance’s political team too much.
Someone very close to Vance told Fox News, “Yawn,” when asked about Khanna’s comments. The counselor called Khanna a “ankle biter,” a slang term for a person or thing that isn’t very important or bothersome.
Khanna gave an economic speech at the City Club of Cleveland the next day, which was different from his speech in New Haven. In that speech, he compared his vision for America’s “new economic patriotism” to the future of the GOP with Vance in charge.
When asked about the visit, Alex Triantafilou, Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, told Fox News Digital, “Khanna is a far-left socialist from one of the wealthiest and most awake congressional districts in America.”
He worked as a real-life representative for both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. This speech is just another desperate shout for attention from an upper-class politician who has no idea what Middle Class voters in Ohio really want.
There are a lot of Democratic Party leaders who are speaking out against Trump’s broad and controversial actions that are changing the federal government and policy. Billionaire Elon Musk, who is the president’s most well-known White House adviser, is also being targeted by Democrats. Musk has taken a sledgehammer to federal work as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Khanna, on the other hand, is leading the way among Democrats in making Vance, who is seen as the front-runner for the GOP nomination at this very early stage of the 2028 race, the Republican bad guy.
Khanna told Fox News Digital that the vice president is “trolling all of us” when asked if he was making fun of Vance. This was before his speech at Yale. “He’s the one who said the court shouldn’t be taken seriously,” and then he gave a long list of other reasons. In addition, Khanna talked about Vance’s “dangerous attacks on universities, the Supreme Court, and the rule of law.”
Noting rising economic uncertainties and the recent massive stock market sell-off caused by the initial implementation of Trump’s tariffs on nations around the world, Khanna suggested that Vance might not have the 2028 Republican nomination all to himself.
“Well, after the markets, the economy, and tariffs, I’m not sure he’ll be nominated.” Khanna predicted that others may emerge.
He emphasized that the vice president “is the one who is attempting to give the most argument to the MAGA philosophy.” He’s the one who has labeled the university as the enemy.
He is the only one who believes the Supreme Court should be defied. He’s the one who has been defending the high tariff policy. As a result, we must confront his arguments and provide a counter-argument to defeat them.
When asked if his attacks on Vance were part of an early 2028 positioning strategy, Khanna responded, “What I’m doing is providing an intellectual foundation for the Democratic Party.”
Khanna emphasized that “we need to rebrand the Democratic Party with a coherent and future-oriented platform, and many leaders must do so.” New leaders, not the old guard. And I hope to be a part of it.
Khanna has crisscrossed the country in recent months, taking the lead in amplifying the Democrats’ message of resistance to Trump.
When asked if Democratic Party leaders needed to be more vocal, Khanna quickly agreed.
“We need more from our leaders. And, you know, if you’re not willing to speak out against someone being taken from their home and deported without due process, you probably shouldn’t be running for office as a Democrat right now,” he said. “We need Democrats to speak out on more than just the economy. We need them to speak out about civil liberties, immigrant rights, and university rights.
Khanna also praised Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey’s recent record-breaking Senate floor speech, as well as the large rallies across the country co-led by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Looking ahead to next year’s midterm elections, when House Democrats hope to overthrow the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the chamber, Khanna said he will keep up his fast pace on the campaign trail.
“I am already going to more red districts. We covered three red districts in California. I’m heading to Pennsylvania. “I was invited to travel to Nebraska, Nevada, and South Carolina,” he explained. “So we’ll campaign in red districts. Thousands of people are showing up. I’m very confident that we’ll succeed.”
In Khanna’s home state of California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s term is up, and former Vice President Kamala Harris is considering a run for governor in 2026.
“I believe she would do well in California. She was the attorney general. She was the district attorney. “A lot of people care about public safety in California, and we need to address housing,” Khanna said of Harris. “So she will have a lot of support if she does it. Of course, it is her decision.
