U.S. Congressman Rho Khanna (D-CA) tells The Guardian he’s not a fan of his fellow Democrats labeling followers of the MAGA movement: “weird.”
Khanna to The Guardian at the Texas Tribune festival:
“I’m not , in candor, a fan of calling each other ‘weird’ or names, I don’t think that advanced American democracy…. I think we have to – in this country, and as a party – not just win, but deserve victory. And to deserve victory means to offer a vision that is going to bring this country together with a common purpose.”
Tim Walz, pre-Veep selection, famously called MAGA leaders “weird people” and Democrats have tried to stick that label on Donald Trump, JD Vance, and other leaders of the movement with Democratic strategist Caitlin Legacki explaining to ABC News: “I think it’s really elegant in its simplicity.”
With its widespread adoption, Dems seem to think they’ve found a winning tagline, but it remains to be seen whether Republicans will effectively co-opt the insult and embrace it much as they did Hillary Clinton’s famous “deplorable” attack.
2028 implications: Khanna isn’t one of Harris’ most prominent surrogates, but disagreeing so sharply with one of the Dems’ key lines of attack is notable.
At this point, his stakes are relatively low because he wasn’t part of the Veep discussion and exists in dark horse regions of the 2028 campaign.
But his comments do suggest he’s not in any rush to follow a key, popular trend in Democratic messaging and might be thinking about charting a unique space in the party.