Rep. Ro Khanna Cracks The Maga Coalition Over The Epstein Files

WASHINGTON — With a near-unanimous ballot successful Congress to walk his measure requiring nan merchandise of Jeffrey Epstein files, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., tin declare a triumph that nary different Democratic statesmanlike imaginable has achieved: cracking nan MAGA coalition.

Early polls suggest he’d beryllium a dense underdog if he runs. But nan California Democrat has been walking to plaything states and early contests to trial nan h2o for a imaginable White House bid.

Khanna, 49, teamed up pinch Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to present nan Epstein Files Transparency Act successful July. The measure requires nan Justice Department to merchandise its records related to Epstein, nan precocious financier and convicted activity offender who had connections to a number of powerful figures, wrong 30 days.

Khanna and Massie attracted Republican co-sponsors and conscionable capable signatures to end-run House GOP leaders and unit a vote, pinch MAGA luminaries specified arsenic Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Lauren Boebert of Colorado supporting nan measure.

It was a uncommon bipartisan feat, made much difficult by President Donald Trump, who pushed for months to dissuade Republicans from joining nan effort. But successful nan last days, Trump bowed to what progressively appeared to beryllium an inevitability, flipping his stance and backing it. Party leaders followed him. Every Republican isolated from 1 joined unanimous Democrats connected Tuesday to ballot for nan measurement connected nan House floor, sending it to nan Senate, which passed it unanimously.

In an question and reply successful nan speaker’s lobby moments earlier nan House ballot connected his bill, Khanna told NBC News his task contains nan building blocks of a nationalist vision.

“Whatever domiciled I have, I dream it’s a domiciled successful shaping nan nationalist early of nan Democratic Party and nan country,” he said. “We request to build an enduring conjugation astir a imagination of caller economical patriotism that tin merge nan near and right. And nan elements of that are to obstruction against an elite governing people that has created a strategy that’s not moving for mean Americans. And past to connection a actual imagination of really we’re going to prioritize nan economical independency and occurrence of those forgotten Americans, arsenic opposed to conscionable this billionaire elite class.”

He melded nan caller effort into his larger left-right message, attacking “the Epstein people that has accumulated powerfulness and doesn’t play by nan rules and has impunity astatine nan disbursal of mean Americans.”

Khanna’s attack is unsocial among Democrats. He doesn't rather person nan fiery rhetoric of different rumored White House hopefuls specified arsenic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and he doesn’t person nan iconic progressive image of New York's Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Simply put, his willingness to partner pinch MAGA figures who are detested by liberals whitethorn not beryllium a trading constituent for an angry and fired-up Democratic base.

“That’s a disapproval I sometimes get,” Khanna quipped.

Still, nan California Democrat shows his crisp elbows against Republicans astatine times, astir notably positioning himself arsenic a foil to Vice President JD Vance, who’s seen arsenic a imaginable Republican front-runner successful 2028. He'll often go aft him connected social media. During a reside successful April astatine Yale Law School, wherever some Vance and Khanna received their degrees, Khanna drew a comparison betwixt nan vice president and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Vance's agency did not return a petition for comment.

Khanna lacks nan nationalist sanction nickname of different Democrats, including Pete Buttigieg, a erstwhile statesmanlike campaigner and proscription caput successful nan Biden administration, who has besides been viewed arsenic a imaginable 2028 candidate.

Not since nan 1800s has a House personnel ascended consecutive to nan presidency; and arsenic an Indian American, Khanna would beryllium looking to make history successful much ways than one.

But what he has built is simply a level of spot among Republicans who wouldn’t activity pinch different Democrats. He said he’s done that by “being civilian to colleagues” — including immoderate hard-right Republicans — and building spot and partnerships pinch them, giving them credit, taking his connection to “Republican-leaning podcasts” and “treating MAGA voters pinch respect.”

“I person not gotten into Twitter wars pinch Marjorie Taylor Greene aliases Lauren Boebert. I person a existent relationship pinch Thomas Massie,” he said. “They trusted maine capable not to make it astir Donald Trump — from time one, immoderate property convention we did, thing we did, we talked astir it being astir nan survivors, not political.”

Khanna said his insistence connected seeing nan humanity successful those GOP lawmakers, who are apical Democratic foes, was cardinal to success.

“It was nan full thing,” he added. “If I had engaged successful those benignant of meme wars and others, there’s nary measurement Massie would person worked pinch me.”

The White House downplayed nan Khanna-Massie effort, contempt nan president fighting it for months, saying Trump had already been “calling for transparency,” connected nan Epstein files “and is now delivering connected it pinch thousands of pages of documents arsenic portion of nan ongoing Oversight investigation.”

Khanna has a different imagination of bipartisanship than different Democrats, including erstwhile Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, who sought to find nan astir mean Republicans and activity pinch them connected noncontroversial goals. By contrast, Khanna tends to look for GOP lawmakers to partner pinch connected populist issues that some nan near and nan correct tin waste arsenic a rebuke of an entrenched establishment.

He has teamed up pinch Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., to repeal Trump’s tariffs connected coffee, and pinch Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, to propose legislature word limits. He worked pinch Republicans to advocator for reining successful nan government’s warrantless surveillance powers nether FISA Section 702 and to forestall U.S. subject involution successful Yemen.

Massie said Khanna’s attack was instrumental successful nan occurrence of their Epstein measure. He said he saw an opening erstwhile Khanna offered an Epstein amendment successful nan Rules Committee, and “got each Democrat and 1 Republican to ballot for it.”

“Ro gave maine nan idea, whether he meant to aliases not,” Massie said. “He’s capable to put speech nan partisan explosive throwing successful bid to activity crossed nan aisle, and he’s really bully connected TV.”

“He was an important constituent of this,” nan Kentucky Republican said. “And it was his idea, really, to shape nan subsister property conference. So I don’t cognize if it would person succeeded pinch immoderate different Democrat connected nan different broadside of nan aisle.”

Others person thing to opportunity astir Khanna, including Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, who replied, “No comment,” erstwhile asked astir his domiciled successful nan Epstein bill.

On nan House level earlier nan vote, Khanna thanked his Republican partners connected nan bill.

“The Epstein people is going to go,” he said. “And nan logic they’re gonna spell is nan progressive near and nan MAGA correct and everyone successful betwixt is yet waking up against this rotten system.”

In nan NBC News interview, Khanna many times invoked President Franklin Delano Roosevelt arsenic a guidepost for his populist views and desire to return connected able interests, while conceding that his progressive ideals won’t afloat upend nan MAGA coalition. But he believes he has a amended mentation of really to prosecute those voters than immoderate caller — unnamed — Democratic statesmanlike prospects.

“Do I deliberation someway we’re going to triumph each of Trump’s voters? No. I’m not naive,” he said. “But I deliberation that that has a amended changeable of winning than we’re conscionable going to do Infrastructure 2.0.”