The Democrat who partnered with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to push for the release of Jeffrey Epstein's files believes their ultimate success should boost his profile.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) makes no secret that he believes Tuesday's 427-1 vote, which came after President Donald Trump finally gave up his opposition, should position him as a party leader and potential 2028 presidential candidate, reported CNN.
“The knock on me from some — I mean, there are many knocks on me — but one of the knocks on me has always been: ‘Okay, Ro, you can write books on this, you can write op-eds on this, but can you really, brass tacks, get things done?’" Khanna said in an interview. "It’s easier if you’re a mayor or a governor or a Cabinet member to show you can get things done, and what this is showing is, you know what?"
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who publicly joined the push to get the Department of Justice to issue the investigative files, said the months-long battle had “ripped MAGA apart," and Khanna argued the overwhelming vote showed that he could reach far across the aisle into Trump's base.
"On one of the biggest things, which is getting MAGA on board, it’s not just ideas," Khanna said. "I’m able to get things done.”
Khanna noted that Greene and Massie were trending on X the morning of the vote and he wasn't, but the Kentucky Republican gladly offered to share credit for the success of the discharge petition they circulated together.
“It took him on his side and me on my side, and our working relationship before this, to be able to do this,” Massie said Tuesday morning, after a news conference with Epstein survivors. “Our chance of success was about 4 percent at the beginning, and we’re going to succeed. So I am a little bit surprised. I’m used to fighting battles and not winning.”
One of those survivors agreed after the vote.
“I think Ro Khanna is a brilliant human being," said survivor Haley Robson. "I think he stands for justice. He’s on the right side of history. If it wasn’t for Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ro Khanna, I don’t think any of this would have been possible. They are just incredible people who genuinely care.”
The 47-year-old Khanna, who served in the Commerce Department under Barack Obama, represents Silicon Valley and has earned a reputation as a self-promoter who often talks to right-wing media, but he said those tactics have allowed him to "make a difference in Congress."
“In the beginning – I’m not going to say who – but some of the folks in our own party were like, eyerolls, ‘There goes Ro on one of his issues…’ ‘Why aren’t we talking about the price of eggs?’ ‘Why aren’t we talking about the price of health care?’ ‘What’s up with this?’ And I said, ‘No, there is something legitimate here,'" Khanna told CNN.
Khanna is already talking with Greene, whom he barely knew before, about banning private equity firms from buying up single-family homes, and he'd like to get Republican support for extending Medicare to people starting at 55 years old, although he prefers the "Medicare for All" plan pushed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“My point is, if your goal is just, ‘How do Democrats win,’ maybe anti-Trump is enough for a moment," he told CNN. "If your goal is, ‘How do we build an enduring majority, which is what progressive Democrats like me want to do?’ This is absolutely essential."
“This is a proof of concept that we need to actually figure out how we bring disaffected MAGA voters into our coalition, that we need to focus much more on railing against a system that has screwed Americans and offering a hopeful message about how we help them, more than just meme-ing against Donald Trump," Khanna added.