Could ‘Blue MAGA' revitalize the Democratic Party?
As conversations about President Joe Biden's decline during his years as president continue, and as Democrats continue to struggle with public approval, lawmakers on the left are looking for ways to reconnect with American voters.
Some Democrats view this time, in the middle of the Trump era, as an opportunity to revamp their party — especially as they struggle to find a new leader.
One of those Democrats is Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat whose district includes much of Silicon Valley, but who wants his party to take a more populist route.
He's coined a new phrase to describe the voters he hopes to bring back to the Democratic Party, the working and middle class voters who fled the party to vote for President Donald Trump — 'Blue MAGA.'
Khanna, a California Democrat appeared on Sunday on ABC News' 'This Week,' with a tough message.
'The Democratic Party needs to be honest,' he said.
'In light of what has come out, it is painfully obvious President (Joe) Biden should not have run,' Khanna said.
The California representative argued his party gave 'too much deference to party leaders, to the old guard, to the advisers' instead of being 'more independent.'
Khanna thinks he has an answer to the Democrats' identity problem can help the party rebuild.
For the longest time, he called his vision 'progressive capitalism.' Khanna now phrases it as 'economic patriotism,' or jokingly 'Blue MAGA.'
He's used several names, but it's all the same agenda: Bring back manufacturing to America, and better jobs for working and middle class Americans.
He has gone on tours in MAGA-leaning districts since his first term, when he visited Paintsville, Kentucky, to witness a disappearing coal industry.
Then in 2022, Khanna left Silicon Valley for a tour of three states in the Midwest, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa, where he championed building American.
In his most recent tour, 'Benefits Over Billionaires,' he traveled to Republican-held battleground districts in California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He also plans to make stops in Nebraska, Nevada and Ohio.
Khanna's frequent travles have given rise to talk of presidential ambitions. He certainly seems to be setting himself up for a possible 2028 or 2032 run.
In the meantime, this Democrat said he wants his party to pitch ideas that improve the lives of working-class Americans.
'We need a vision that helps the working class and gives Americans hope for the future,' he wrote. That means building factories and creating jobs for the middle-class, he said.
Khanna isn't the only one preaching 'Blue MAGA.' His message aligns with the one delivered by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., during the 'Fight Oligarchy Tour'
During a stop in Los Angeles, Khanna also joined Sanders for the tour.
Khanna, who co-chaired Sanders 2020 campaign, considers the Vermont senator a mentor and his congressional platform is an extension of many of Sanders' priorities, like a higher minimum wage, Medicare for all and affordable housing.
'Bernie Sanders warned us in 2016, he warned us about the unholy alliance of wealth and power, but the Democratic leadership rejected him,' Khanna told the attendees in April.
'Then in 2020 he warned us again about money in politics, but the establishment, they betrayed him.'
'Now, for a third time, he's warning us about billionaires taking over our democracy. And guess what? Guess what? This time, this time, Democrats in America are finally listening,' Khanna said.
Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate and has run for president as a Democrat, is also an outspoken critic the party. He hasn't forgotten being pushed aside for more moderate candidates like Biden and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
On Monday, Sanders said the lack of a 'fair primary' makes the Democratic Party a 'threat to Democracy,' while talking about Sanders' 2016 presidential bid on the Flagrant podcast. Progressives have long said the Republican Party under Trump threatens democracy.
'I'm a life-long Democrat and I feel like the Democratic Party completely removed the democratic process from its constituents,' host Andrew Schulz said. 'I think they need to have some accountability in that.'
'No argument there,' Sanders responded. He also didn't argue when cohost Akaash Singh suggested that Democrats haven't had a fair primary since 2008.
Although Sanders isn't the MAGA crowd's cup of tea, Khanna sparks curiosity among conservatives, thanks to his efforts at outreach to the other side of the aisle.
He was one of the handful of Democrats to not stay mum about Hunter Biden and his controversial laptop.
'I'm for transparency,' Khanna said in an interview Monday. 'I've always been a very robust defender of the First Amendment.'
He sees eye to eye with Trump on the need for a manufacturing boom in the U.S. and showed his willingness to work with the Department of Government Efficiency, created to reduce federal spending.
Steve Bannon told Vanity Fair's Joe Hagan that he thinks Khanna will 'eventually be a Republican.'
'He's out there with the oligarchs, they're all right-wingers now,' Bannon said.
Khanna, as Hagan speculates, is propping himself as a Democratic hopeful, going up against the party's long list of vying candidates, like Gavin Newsom, John Fetterman, Chris Murphy and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, just to name a few.
The California representative hasn't revealed his ambitions for a White House run in 2028.
He told ABC News he is 'focused on getting the House back' but didn't deny the possibility of a presidential run.
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