All eyes will be on Tuesday night’s first presidential debate (which theGrio is simulcasting) between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
While some viewers are anticipating a verbal slugfest between the presidential hopefuls, in a recent interview with theGrio, Harris campaign surrogate U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., advises Harris to keep her message positive and stay focused on the policy issues voters, particularly Black and brown voters, care about.
Trump, he argued, is “unraveling” before voters’ eyes with continued claims of election fraud and pushing a vision that represents America going backward.
“What she needs to do is make the positive case and what she’s going to do for people. I think if she does that, she’ll win and be the next president,” said Congressman Khanna.
Read theGrio’s full Q&A with Rep. Khanna below.
TheGrio: What can Vice President Kamala Harris say to galvanize Black and brown voters or persuade those who are maybe still skeptical about casting their ballot for her in November? What do they need to hear in terms of policy?
Rep. Ro Khanna: Her economic vision; that they’re going to have more money in their pockets with her child tax credit, that she’s going to be helping give them money for a down payment on their first house, that we’re going to be taxing the rich but helping small businesses and helping the working and middle class.
TheGrio: The vice president has taken a different approach when talking about Donald Trump. President Biden often described him as a threat to democracy. The vice president chose to use more words like, you know, we’re moving forward, not backward. Has that been an effective strategy, in your opinion, based on what we’re seeing in polling or do you think that there’s perhaps a risk to that, given the threat that many actually do feel he poses to the country?
Khanna: I think her calling Trump unserious is accurate, and she needs to focus on her positive vision for the country. I mean, he’s showing himself. His rants about the election being stolen today and locking people up if they don’t monitor the elections carefully. I mean, he’s unraveling himself, and people see that. What she needs to do is make the positive case, and what she’s going to do for people. I think if she does that, she’ll win and be the next president.
TheGrio: What do you say to Trump, the Trump campaign and Republican critics who have been arguing that the vice president is trying to have it both ways in terms of policies that she supported in the past, in 2020, versus now? The campaign said that she was running away from her “dangerously liberal record in previous positions.” How do you square where she has landed on talking about her change in policies, saying that her values haven’t changed? Do you think that the average voter is concerned about this the way that Republicans are suggesting?
Khanna: I believe that people really care about what she’s going to do as president, and that’s what she has the opportunity to do [tonight], to come out with a clear, positive agenda. And I don’t think they’re concerned about some tweet she put out or some statement she made five years ago. I think they want to know what has she done as vice president with Joe Biden, and what is she going to do for the country. And that’s what they’re going to judge her on.
TheGrio: The Harris campaign and the vice president herself have repeatedly said that she is the underdog in this race. Do you see her as the underdog in this race?
Khanna: I think the Electoral College favors the Republicans. So, yes, I think she’s going to win the popular vote, but I do think it’s going to be a fight for the Electoral College.
TheGrio: The vice president’s economic policies are very bold. How realistic do you see these policies being passed in the next session of Congress?
Khanna: I think that she brings great advantages to having served in the Senate, having a good relationship with any members of Congress, and the [congressional] Asian American Caucus and Progressive Caucus and the Black Caucus. In many ways, she’s very connected to the house in particular, and a lot of younger men, so she’s going to have a lot of support when she’s president among House Democrats.
TheGrio: How are you feeling at this moment, in terms of Democrats’ chances of keeping the Senate and winning back the House?
Khanna: I think the House, we have a great chance that Hakeem Jeffries will be the speaker. On the Senate, that’s a more uphill fight, just because of the maps, but we’ve got to do everything we can to win [Senator] Sherrod Brown’s seat and [Senator] Jon Tester’s seat. That’s what it’s going to come down to. I’m confident on all the others.
