Khanna: Ocasio-Cortez running for president in 2028 ‘would have no bearing’ on own decision to enter race
Khanna: Ocasio-Cortez running for president in 2028 ‘would have no bearing’ on own decision to enter race
Tara Suter Sun, August 30, 2026 at 5:50 PM UTC
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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) making a run for the presidency in two years wouldn’t affect his own potential choice to do so.
“If your fellow progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez runs, will you still run?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Khanna on “State of the Union.”
“It will have no bearing on my decision. Obviously, she's extraordinary. But my vision is an economic vision. Look, Dana, one-third of the nation's wealth is in my district, $20 trillion. We have five companies over a trillion dollars in my district. But where I grew up, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, this economy of the future isn't working for them,” Khanna replied.
“And I have a vision called economic patriotism, which calls for having the greatest economic mission in generations to build a future economy that's going to be working for people I grew up with, deindustrialized communities, the Black South,” he added.
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As this year’s midterms near, discussions around the next presidential election are heating up, with Ocasio-Cortez and Khanna among many Democrats being talked about as possible candidates for the 2028 race.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Khanna making bids for the presidency in 2028 would follow a wave of progressive successes in this year’s primaries, from New York to Colorado. However, amid those wins, there has been pushback from more moderate figures in the party over issues like democratic socialist ideas and American support for Israel.
A few weeks ago, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), one of the other Democratic names floated as a 2028 presidential candidate, threw cold water on the idea.
“I have zero interest in running for president in 2028, and, frankly, zero interest in the 2028 fantasy football right now,” Ossoff told MS NOW’s Jen Psaki at the time.
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