Political speech, timestamped and in context

Ro Khanna: “We could break this greatest nation to be a multiracial democracy.”

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

Ro Khanna lays out progressive agenda as he 'seriously' considers presidential run | Newsmakers

Published August 13, 2026

… this country working again for people who feel they don't have health care, they don't have jobs, they don't have a home, then we really could break as a nation. We could break this greatest nation to be a multiracial democracy. And while some tech folks are worried about Terminators and AI messing things up, I'm not saying that we don't discount, we discount that of course we need AI regulation. (40:17–40:21)

STATEMENT

Asserts that the U.S. could fail as a multiracial democracy without significant change.

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.

See the main statements from Ro Khanna in this video

“Right now, [the economy is] working for my district. $20 trillion, 1/3 of the nation's wealth in my district.”
Asserts that Ro Khanna's district holds $20 trillion, or 1/3 of the nation's wealth.01:31-01:38
“China has $1.5 trillion of an investment bank that they're investing on industries and sector after sector.”
Asserts that China has a $1.5 trillion investment bank for industrial investment.02:56-03:04
“We have 900 billionaires in this country and they're worth 22% of the economy, GDP.”
Asserts that 900 billionaires in the U.S. hold 22% of the GDP.04:59-05:06
“19 billionaires, I know many of them, they're in my district, are worth 12% of the GDP.”
Asserts that 19 billionaires in Ro Khanna's district hold 12% of the GDP.05:14-05:20
“85% of venture capital is still coming to California [since the 5% wealth tax proposal].”
Asserts that 85% of venture capital continues to flow into California despite a proposed wealth tax.07:22-07:27
“We have about 12 million people in manufacturing.”
Asserts that the U.S. manufacturing sector employs approximately 12 million people.27:10-27:13
“Donald Trump has traded more stocks than the entire Congress combined.”
Asserts that Donald Trump has traded more stocks than all of Congress combined.29:54-29:59
“We are 60% white and non Hispanic. Canada is 80 some percent, Britain's 87%, Australia's 87%.”
Asserts demographic percentages of white and non-Hispanic populations in the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Australia.42:24-42:33
“We have never had a strategy for economic development in this country since FDR's New Deal.”
Asserts that the U.S. has not had a comprehensive economic development strategy since FDR's New Deal.03:08-03:14
“We can tax them, we raise $4 trillion over 10 years.”
Asserts that taxing billionaires could raise $4 trillion over 10 years.05:26-05:30
“We tax if you leave American citizenship.”
Asserts that the U.S. taxes individuals who renounce American citizenship.06:33-06:37
“I do think [Abdul Al] is going to win [in Michigan].”
Asserts belief that Abdul Al will win the election in Michigan.08:39-08:40
“A broad economic patriotism agenda, I am confident, will win in Michigan.”
Asserts confidence that an economic patriotism agenda will be successful in Michigan.09:05-09:11
“Labels usually don't matter in American politics, in my view.”
Asserts that political labels generally do not have significant impact in American politics.10:43-10:47
“Calling someone a communist is not believable, especially in my case, where I represent a district that's $20 trillion.”
Asserts that labeling him a communist is not credible due to the wealth of his district.12:20-12:27
“It will not work in my view, if an American politician, political leader is talking about jobs and talking about health care and saying their first priority is going to be the economic renewal of the country.”
Asserts that focusing on economic renewal will be more effective than labels in political campaigns.12:54-13:05
“I won my election in the primary, 63% to 6%.”
Asserts that Ro Khanna won his primary election with 63% of the vote.15:30-15:36
“I came out for a billionaire tax of 5% on these billionaires.”
Asserts that Ro Khanna supports a 5% tax on billionaires.15:36-15:41
“There are more billionaires living in and around my district than anywhere in the world.”
Asserts that Ro Khanna's district has the highest concentration of billionaires globally.15:40-15:45
“Musk is threatening to sue me because I pointed out that he was unconstitutional and Doge.”
Asserts that Elon Musk threatened to sue Ro Khanna over comments about unconstitutionality and Doge.16:35-16:41
“Let's have a tax on agentic AI.”
Asserts that Ro Khanna proposes a tax on agentic AI.17:40-17:43
“Let's make sure that we have a federal jobs program.”
Asserts that Ro Khanna advocates for a federal jobs program.17:55-17:59
“We need truck drivers on trucks.”
Asserts that Ro Khanna supports maintaining human truck drivers despite automation.18:45-18:49
“Planes without pilots is the wrong way to develop an economy.”
Asserts that Ro Khanna opposes pilotless planes for economic development.18:51-18:57
“He was basically helped Trump buy the election.”
Asserts that Elon Musk helped Trump in the election.20:17-20:21
“Today's founders are not creating libraries and universities.”
Asserts that modern tech founders are not investing in public institutions like libraries and universities.21:41-21:48
“We will have the biggest wealth divide this country has ever had.”
Asserts that the current economic trajectory will lead to the largest wealth divide in U.S. history.22:51-22:56
“No community should have a data center shoved down their throat.”
Asserts that communities should have a say in whether data centers are built in their areas.23:05-23:10
“There should be no data centers in residential communities or in farmland.”
Asserts that data centers should not be located in residential or agricultural areas.23:26-23:31
“You should have to disclose what the water use is.”
Asserts that data centers should disclose their water usage to local communities.24:18-24:22
“We're going to have trade schools, a thousand new trade schools across America.”
Asserts a policy proposal to establish a thousand new trade schools in the U.S.27:59-28:03
“We're going to have these tech institutes so people can actually do some of the new technology jobs, not just maintain a data center, actually six figure jobs, about 10 million of them.”
Asserts that tech institutes will create about 10 million six-figure jobs.28:10-28:20
“Members of Congress would be required under the trust act to be in a trust and they would not be able to trade any stocks.”
Asserts that the Trust Act would require Congress members to be in a trust and not trade stocks.29:18-29:29
“It's a trust that is either a blind trust or a diversified trust. Means it has to be over, oh like an index fund or over 30 different percent or so of different sectors.”
Asserts that the trust must be a blind or diversified trust, similar to an index fund or diversified over sectors.29:31-29:45
“There are already 25 states that have an amendment saying to regulate private money.”
Asserts that 25 states have amendments to regulate private money.30:37-30:43
“Right now you basically have people being bought. I mean, you've got literally millions of dollars coming in into these House and Senate races.”
Asserts that millions of dollars are influencing House and Senate races.31:06-31:15
“We don't have 3 million of these files still in the Epstein files.”
Asserts that 3 million files related to Epstein are still unreleased.33:57-34:06
“The American President should issue a report about who Epstein was and what his connections were.”
Asserts that the President should release a report on Epstein's connections.35:32-35:40
“The next administration needs to release the remaining files in consultation with the survivors.”
Asserts that the next administration should release Epstein-related files with survivor consultation.37:40-37:46
“There needs to be a look at where there should be investigations and prosecutions [related to Epstein].”
Asserts that investigations and prosecutions should be considered regarding Epstein's network.38:32-38:38
“FDR's agenda...is a model for our time.”
Asserts that Franklin D. Roosevelt's agenda is a suitable model for current times.41:21-41:42
“We are a multiracial democracy. We're not a cohesive multiracial democracy.”
Asserts that the U.S. is a multiracial democracy but not a cohesive one.42:58-43:02
“We need to say we're going to tax billionaire wealth.”
Asserts the need for a policy to tax billionaire wealth.44:02-44:05
“We're going to say we are going to have free health care with Medicare for all, free childcare.”
Asserts the proposal for free healthcare through Medicare for all and free childcare.44:04-44:11
“We're going to increase the living wage.”
Asserts the proposal to increase the living wage.44:10-44:13
“We're going to increase union density by linking federal contracts to that.”
Asserts the proposal to increase union density by linking it to federal contracts.44:12-44:17