Washington: Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, who has not ruled out a 2028 Presidential campaign, has said that Democrats need a new national economic project focused on workers, reindustrialisation and ensuring that artificial intelligence benefits communities beyond Silicon Valley.
Khanna stopped short of announcing a White House bid on Sunday. But the California Democrat presented what he called “economic patriotism” as his central vision for the country.
“For me, I’m most focused on a national economic vision for this country,” Khanna told NBC News.
Khanna represents Silicon Valley, home to some of the world’s largest technology companies and vast concentrations of wealth.
“It’s working for a few billionaires in a few places. But it’s not working for people I grew up with,” he said.
Khanna added that the Democratic Party had lost ground by failing to address the concerns of working-class communities and areas hit by industrial decline.
“The Democrats’ path back out of the wilderness is to have a clear national economic message,” he said.
“We shafted too many communities that were de-industrialised. We left out the working class.”
Asked why he would be a better progressive leader in 2028 than Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Khanna praised her as “a phenomenal talent” and said the progressive movement would have many voices.
He did not directly contrast himself with Ocasio-Cortez. Instead, he emphasised his economic programme.
“How are we going to make sure AI is not just working for a few billionaires, but is working for communities that were de-industrialised?” he asked.
Khanna said the central division within the Democratic Party was not simply between progressives and moderates.
He said Democrats broadly agreed that the economic system was failing ordinary Americans, although they differed over the solutions.
Khanna reiterated his support for Medicare for All, a tax on billionaires and an end to foreign wars.
He called Medicare for All “arguably the most important priority” and said it deserved a vote in the House of Representatives.
“The majority of the House Democrats are going to support it,” he said.
The Congressman also proposed a “data centre bill of rights” to prevent companies from building facilities in residential areas or on farmland without approval from local communities.
“We can’t be putting data centres in residential communities. We can’t be putting data centres in farmland,” he said.
Khanna added that the United States needed data centres to compete in artificial intelligence, but their locations and effects on electricity prices required regulation.
The son of Indian immigrants, Khanna represents a California Congressional district that includes parts of Silicon Valley.
During the interview, he recalled celebrating Thanksgiving in an Indian-American household with “Indian uncles and aunties”.
Khanna has emerged as a prominent progressive voice on technology, economic policy and US foreign affairs.
His discussion of a national economic vision comes as potential Democratic contenders begin positioning themselves for the party’s 2028 Presidential nomination.
(IANS)
