Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., withdrew his name from consideration for Senate in 2024 and has endorsed Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., for the primary and will co-chair her campaign.
"I have concluded that, despite a lot of enthusiasm from Bernie [Sanders] folks, the best place, the most exciting place, action place for me to serve as a progressive is in the House of Representatives, and I'm honored to be co-chairing Barbara Lee's campaign for the Senate and endorsing her today," Khanna told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
"We need a strong anti-war senator, and she will play that role."
Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Katie Porter, D-Calif., are also in the running for the seat of retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
"I have respect from them, but Barbara Lee is a unique voice," Khanna told Jake Tapper. "She was the lone vote against the endless war in Afghanistan. She stood up so strongly against the war in Iraq. She worked with me in stopping — trying to stop the war in Yemen and the war powers resolution.
"And, frankly, Jake, representation matters. We don't have a single African American woman in the United States Senate. She would fill that role. She will be the only candidate from Northern California, and she's going to, I think, consolidate a lot of progressives.
"The other two are formidable candidates, but I think Barbara Lee is going to be very, very strong."
Khanna added Schiff has not been a progressive.
"I'm glad that he is now for Medicare for all and some of the progressive policies," Khanna concluded. "And my view is that politics is about addition. If he wants to join, that's great.
"But I think Barbara Lee has had the track record for the past 20 years really to earn a lot of the progressive trust, particularly, again, on issues of war and peace and social and racial justice. And so I expect a lot of the progressives in California will rally around her."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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