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Ro Khanna: “NAFTA was a huge mistake letting China into the World Trade…”

Featuring: Ro Khanna, Democratic | U.S. House California, 17th Congressional District

The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna

Published May 1, 2025 | Video Starts at 07:03

It did. But first of all, my economic stagnation, I was talking about the last 40 years. I mean, there's some things that I agree with conservative critiques. NAFTA was a huge mistake letting China into the World Trade Organization on those terms. Huge mistake. We hollowed out steel, we hollowed out aluminum, we hollowed out shipbuilding, we hollowed out drug manufacturing. Industry after industry left places like Lorain, Ohio, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Galesburg, Illinois. (07:03–07:09)

CLAIM

Asserts that NAFTA and China's entry into the WTO were mistakes.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ro Khanna

“10,000 people coming in a day, over 300,000 a month, 12 million in four years to essentially 97, 98% of the border is secure.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 29:29-29:32
“More billionaires did back Kamala Harris than Donald Trump.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 43:45-43:49
“NIH, which does medical research and now I'm told is only a 30% efficiency.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 47:10-47:22
“We need to have a robust defense of academic freedom, freedom of thought, not having censorship.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 06:08-06:17
“I've been concerned about the attacks on universities.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 06:17-06:20
“My economic stagnation, I was talking about the last 40 years.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 06:56-06:59
“We hollowed out steel, we hollowed out aluminum, we hollowed out shipbuilding, we hollowed out drug manufacturing.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 07:09-07:16
“The Chips and Science act was about, that I helped write with Todd Young, a bipartisan act.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 07:53-07:59
“All that started because of the Chips and Science act, by the way. It was a Trump administration idea.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 08:03-08:09
“He's put a blanket 10% tariff on all these countries.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 09:00-09:04
“Europe has said that they were willing to negotiate zero for zero tariffs already.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 09:03-09:09
“I did support him on steel tariffs. I did support him on strategic tariffs on aluminum. I did support him on strategic tariffs on China.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 09:32-09:41
“Where he lost me was when he did it for every country, where he did it across the board at 10%.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 09:40-09:47
“This is without any historical precedent and truly terrifying.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 10:25-10:31
“We need to demand the release of this judge and have due process and the rule of law.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 10:38-10:46
“It doesn't strike me as a criminal offense.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 14:01-14:04
“My sense is he was [arrested]. He goes to a public hallway, they don't arrest him.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 14:05-16:37
“If a judge says, do not arrest someone, let's say she didn't have him go out the jury room.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 14:48-14:54
“A church could say that in a church. Or that's not concealing someone's arrest.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 15:27-15:33
“The 14th Amendment says that you have to have due process for every person in America.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 20:22-20:27
“We have to deport people who have been convicted of serious criminal offenses.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 21:08-21:14
“We need to have secure borders.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 21:50-21:52
“Estimates range from 12 to 15, 18 million [undocumented people in America].”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 21:53-22:01
“We are fighting to prevent horrific cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and Social Security.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 23:01-23:08
“Whether you are here through the legal process or whether you don't have legal status, you should be entitled to due process in America.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 24:34-24:38
“Not well enough, no. I mean, look, I'm not going to defend that 8, 8 million or whatever the reports were of people undocumented came into…”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 24:57-25:07
“Many of them have been here for four years. Some of them are working, they've got young kids, they're paying taxes.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 25:46-25:55
“If they're violent criminals and convicted, fine, deport them. But for the vast majority, that's not the case.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 25:58-26:05
“We've got to have some path, I believe a path to citizenship, but at least let's have a path to legalization.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 26:05-26:11
“Even the person who's ran on the most anti undocumented immigrant platform, Donald Trump, is in his first term, there was still 12 million…”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 26:59-27:13
“There is no open border.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 29:32-29:35
“Process are down by 95%. Guard weights, as they call them, are down by 99.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 30:06-30:12
“Only nine plus foreign nationals released into the country compared to many more under the Biden administration during an equal period.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 30:11-30:19
“He's doing things like the Abrego case of deporting folks without due process.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 31:07-31:13
“Of course we needed more border security.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 32:38-32:42
“George W. Bush actually was trying to propose that, to say, you know, people should be able to come here, they should be able to work, they…”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 32:56-33:07
“I think he's swung too far in that he is denying people in this country due process.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 34:13-34:20
“The court said that he was a genuine, there, there was a genuine fear of persecution for him.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 35:00-35:07
“The courts said that we couldn't, we could deport him, but we couldn't send him back to El Salvador.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 35:21-35:28
“The Constitution requires that they have basic due process and they have the same First Amendment rights.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 38:21-38:28
“If Donald Trump wanted Bukele to send Abrego back, within an hour, Abrego would be back.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 40:04-40:12
“We have asylum law... if you really fear persecution, you shouldn't go back to that country.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 40:41-40:52
“Maine actually proposed this and passed it 70%.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 43:55-43:59
“You can't give a super PAC more money than you can give a candidate.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 43:59-44:03
“There were millions of dollars spent on Donald Trump's side. There were millions of dollars spent on Kamala Harris side.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 44:11-44:17
“We live in the world of AI and technology.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 45:22-45:25
“We have an 1883 Pendleton Act in this country which gives civil servants protections.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 47:39-47:45
“Congress has appropriated funds for some of these positions.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 48:13-48:18
“The Supreme Court has ruled for [military academies] that you can have diversity as part of the consideration.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 54:24-54:29
“I do believe, as the Supreme Court said, for our military Academies that race and diversity of race is an important consideration.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 55:19-55:27
“I want to make sure that there weren't anything close to quotas [in Harvard's admission].”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 57:08-57:16
“Rural America is underrepresented.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 59:31-59:34
“Kids from factory towns are underrepresented.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 59:33-59:36
“I think that the kids of Indian origin are going to have plenty of opportunities in this country.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 1:01:15-1:01:25
“Indian American kids are going to have plenty of economic opportunities.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 1:02:20-1:02:24
“I go to rural and factory towns all the time. I was just in rural Nebraska.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 1:03:43-1:03:49
“We got to have an open election. We got to have 10, 15 people run.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 1:06:28-1:06:31
“Ultimately we need a compelling economic message.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 1:06:52-1:06:55
“What the party has got to do is show a willingness to go everywhere, an authenticity, a spontaneity, and not be stale.”
The Rubin Report: Immigration, Economic Policy, and Race with Congressman Ro Khanna | Uploaded May 1, 2025 | 1:06:55-1:07:06