Khanna says Democrats need to be disciplined: ‘You don’t get anywhere attacking’ Biden

Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said on Sunday that Democrats “don’t get anywhere attacking” President Biden and called on the party to come together ahead of November’s midterm elections.

“Do you ever hear the Republicans, four months before a midterm election, criticizing their own Republican president?” Khanna asked on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart.”

“They don’t criticize a Republican, former Republican president, who committed insurrection. They still have people out there defending him.”

Khanna has pushed back against Biden in the past: critiquing the president’s inflation plan and pressuring the administration on student loan forgiveness.

In a New York Times op-ed from early June, the California Democrat said he supported Biden’s efforts, but argued “there is way more Biden can do” to help the struggling economy.

“I get called, they say, ‘Oh, Ro, don’t pander to the administration. Don’t appease the administration,’” Khanna said on Sunday. “Any time I support Joe Biden. People know I have disagreements with the president. But here’s what I believe: the party needs to be disciplined. He’s our leader, he’s the president.”

Last month, Khanna and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told The Hill about their optimism for progressive Democrats’ success in the upcoming election, as long as congressional Democrats work with the White House for a unified front.

“Let’s figure out how to get the agenda through in Congress, compromise, and let’s unify,” Khanna said on MSNBC. “That’s not rocket science.”

Now in his third term, Khanna won his party’s California primary in June and will face Republican candidate Ritesh Tandon in the midterm general elections in November.

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