California Rep. Ro Khanna argued on Sunday to voters that the “next generation” of Democrats is better equipped to lead the party in navigating the current political environment than the “old guard.”
His remarks — made at a town hall in a congressional district represented by a Republican in California — were in response to frustrated questions from voters asking why the Democratic Party isn’t doing more to meet the moment, including several questions directly referencing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s handling of the recently passed government funding bill. Schumer voted to advance the legislation in a procedural vote and has faced backlash for it for more than a week.
“The old guard needs to go,” Khanna said to cheers from attendees. “I will assure you that there are a lot of next-generation Democrats who are going to stand up to Donald Trump and [Elon] Musk and believe we [shouldn’t] cooperate with them while they’re engaged in unconstitutional action.”