U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., traveled to South Carolina over the weekend to meet with Black leaders and voters as he engages with communities on economic policy.
“We need a fresh economic vision for this party and it needs to center conversation with Black voters. We have not had enough conversations with Black voters about what we need to do to create good jobs in the 21st century in Black communities,” Khanna told theGrio.
Referring to President Donald Trump‘s recently passed tax and spending law, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the Silicon Valley congressman continued, “What we need to do to build wealth in these communities. What do we need to do to make sure the working class is secure with the devastating cuts on Medicaid and food assistance.”
Congressman Khanna is the latest Democrat to visit South Carolina amid open discussions about potentially running for president in 2028. This week, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear traveled to the Palmetto State for a two-day tour and speaking engagements. In May, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore did the same, despite his insistence he’s not running for president.
While Khanna tells theGrio he is primarily focused on helping Democrats “take back” the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections, to elect U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries the U.S.’s first Black House Black speaker and “stop Trump’s madness,” he acknowledges that, should he throw his name in the hat in 2028, “I believe that what I have to offer is an economic vision.”
“How are we going to have economic independence and economic security for communities that have been left out of globalization and a true vision of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy?” Khanna asked rhetorically. “I want to make sure that we live in a democracy that has an equal shot for everyone, regardless of their race, and recognizes the obstacles that people have because of their race.”
The congressman said he would like to see that economic framework become part of the Democratic Party’s official platform as they head into the next election cycle, to elect their next representatives to Congress in 2026 and their presidential nominee in 2028.
As he workshopped his economic vision in South Carolina, which became the Democratic Party’s crucial first presidential primary state in 2024, Khanna brought reinforcement–and civil rights legacy–as he was joined by Democratic colleague and friend, Rep. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, the son of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson Sr.
Khanna and Jackson traveled to Jesse Jackson’s hometown of Greenville to talk about the impacts of Trump’s “Big” bill and field questions from members of the community about “what a strong economic agenda for the party should look like.”
The congressman also joined Rick Wade of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to speak to 100 business and technology leaders about how to better “partner with Silicon Valley and the Black south.”
Khanna, who is Indian American and credits the civil rights movement for his parents’ ability to immigrate to the United States, has been working to lay the groundwork for scaling private investments in Black communities, particularly in the South. The 48-year-old lawmaker tapped tech companies like OpenAI and Google to partner with HBCUs in South Carolina and create jobs in the technology industry.
As a progressive leader within the Democratic Party, Rep. Khanna sees an opportunity to better engage with older Black Americans in the South, and bridge the ideological gaps among the party’s most loyal voting base. Ultimately, he believes a strong economic agenda can help improve inroads with Black voters as the party works to recover its electorate strength post the 2024 election.
“We have ideas about what it’s going to take in the future to build economic independence, build economic security,” Khanna told theGrio. “I have a district of extraordinary wealth, and I have ideas about how we can build this economic security in Black and brown and in rural communities.”
Politics aside, Khanna explained that his desire to help improve the economic conditions for Black communities is personal. The congressman shared that he owes an “enormous moral debt” to the community.
Khanna referred back to the civil rights movement when activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis not only fought for the equality of Black Americans, but also immigrants of color through the Immigration Reform Act of 1965. Without it, Khanna’s own family would not have been able to experience the American Dream.
“When Indians came here, they didn’t get hired at Harvard or Stanford; they got hired at HBCUs,” he noted. “The Indian American community owes the African-American community a debt that is connected, ultimately, with our own struggle for freedom against colonialism.”
