Progressive Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna co-chaired Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign.
When it comes to 2024, Khanna says he's 100% behind the effort to reelect President Biden.
"I do whatever the president tells me when it comes to 2024 and his team," Khanna said during a Fox News Digital interview. "I’m a foot soldier when it comes to making sure he gets reelected."
But that mission may pay dividends for Khanna in 2028, when 47-year-old politician from California may have national aspirations.
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Khanna was interviewed after participating in a debate with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday. The cordial showdown over policy differences took place at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, a must-stop in the traditional first-in-the-nation presidential primary state for current and potential future White House hopefuls.
Khanna has made multiple trips to New Hampshire over the past year and a half. And in May he headlined the McIntyre-Shaheen gala, which is the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s largest annual fundraiser. The visits have sparked speculation about a possible 2028 presidential run.
"We’ve got to first win 2024, and that’s what’s on my mind. But I love the state. It’s a state where you sneeze and the nation gets to hear you. And so, for me, it’s a way of getting my ideas out," Khanna said when asked about any 2028 ambitions.
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Longtime New Hampshire based Democrat consultant Jim Demers — a top Biden supporter in the Granite State — told Fox News that "Ro Khanna has been one of the best friends of New Hampshire Democrats for the past two years. Every time Democrats ask for help, he has stepped up."
"Whether or not he has plans to run for president in the future, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. But he’s making a lot of friends, and that is a very good way to get a leg up on anybody for 2028," Demers said.
And a veteran progressive activist and leader in New Hampshire, pointing to Khanna's support for the state, called him "the fifth member" of New Hampshire's all-Democrat four person congressional delegation.
"I think he’s a natural successor for Bernie’s supporters because he was co-chair of Bernie’s campaign. People know Ro. They like Ro. They’re happy to see Ro," said the activist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely. "So, there is a little buzz going on."
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But Khanna says first things first.
The president nearly a year ago proposed a nominating calendar for the 2024 election cycle that booted New Hampshire from its traditional lead-off primary position and replaced it with South Carolina, a much more diverse state.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) earlier this year overwhelmingly approved the calendar change proposed by the president. But New Hampshire is on course to leapfrog South Carolina as it honors a longtime state law that mandates the state holds the first primary.
With the state on course to hold an unsanctioned Democrat contest, the president's reelection campaign last week announced that Biden wouldn't file to place his name on the New Hampshire ballot. On Monday, top Democrats in the state launched a write-in campaign for the president.
New Hampshire's also a crucial battleground state in the general election, and Khanna warned in a Fox Digital interview earlier this year that Biden's absence from the ballot "puts the general election in the state at risk."
On Wednesday, Khanna said that "a lot of folks like me — I was a co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ campaign — are going to be working hard for him in New Hampshire to have him win a write-in campaign."
