California Democrat Locanna tried out how to make it a Trump administration counterweight in the early months of 2025.
During a social media skirmish over the hiring and firing of officials who wrote the racist post in February, Kanna portrayed the rage of Vice President J.D. Vance, who said, “You hate me.” More recently, Kanna has directed City Hall in Republican districts across California with a progressive co-sponsored parade.
He is now planning to bring an even brighter spotlight to Vance and himself in April at Yale Law School, the home of Ohio Vice President Vance and their shared alma mater.
In an interview, Kanna, 48, said she intends to cast Vance as a unique threat to the American constitutional order, and claims she doesn't have time to waste filing a lawsuit against Vance, the heir to President Trump's right-wing political movement.
His speaking tours on several Ohio cities and Yale campus in New Haven, Connecticut are also an effort to fine-tune himself into a national conversation about the future of the Democrats.
It was a long-term project for Kanna, who has represented much of Silicon Valley since she left the Democratic incumbent in 2016. He has appeared in cable news and travels widely. His repeated trips to New Hampshire before the 2024 election included an appearance on behalf of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and a rare argument with Vivek Ramaswamy. At last year's Democratic treaty, he arranged to meet with representatives from 15 states.
“I don't deny that I have ambitions,” Kanna said. “Ambition is good if it is used for a good purpose. And I would like to ultimately be in a place where I can have the greatest impact on our country and our party.”
For now, he said dodging Trump's agenda is paramount. “I think doing so is a kind of table stake for those who want to hear a positive vision afterwards,” he said.
Our conversations were compiled for length and clarity.
SG: JD Vance is not president. Donald Trump is doing everything now. So why are you talking about JD Vance?
RK: Well, he's someone who's trying to give intellectual legitimacy to what Trump is doing. He is intelligent in Trumpist quotes and Quote. So I think we have to take on ideology. Because he is trying to say what Trump is doing is a consistent worldview.
Don't you think it's too early to try to define JD Vance?
no. He represents the future of Trumpism. And I think everything in our party should expose him and define him.
Given everything that's happening in the present, do you think it's too early to fight the future of Trumpism? Is it too early to start talking about 2028?
It's too early to talk about 2028. But what JD Vance is making clear today is the potential crisis in the coming months. He then told Trump “denies the court's order and rebels, including the Supreme Court.” So, it's not 2028. It tells you about a potential constitutional crisis.
He says college is the enemy. It's not talking about 2028. It's talking about threatening our university – in many ways the jewel of the American democratic crown. So now we need to draw a line into the sand. We need to clarify how hollow this is.
Yale student JD Vance would have been aware of how hollow it was. So, that's part of why I went back there and we both got educated.
Can this be considered a bid for attention? And do you think that's a good thing?
Certainly, that's a bid for caution. It's trying to push back Vance's ideology and bring my ideas out there. And 2024 taught us that we must be creative to get people's attention. If I had just written an essay for a foreign policy magazine about the same idea, it probably wouldn't let people talk about them. I don't think it's a bad thing to attract attention. But what is the warning about the problem? My hope is that I am trying to draw attention to something substantial.
I actually traveled with Vance on a bus tour in Ohio in early 2018.
He joined us for a day.
The era called it a “Lust belt safari.”
I remember because I didn't like the title.
Have you falsified your true relationship with Vance?
I remember it was a heartfelt conversation about what really needs to make the country religious. But I am not aware of JD Vance who joined us on that trip in terms of what he is talking about now.
I'm not thinking that JD Vance has spoken about rebelling against the Supreme Court or being called a university. In other words, it was full of people who worked together at universities and appreciated the role they played.
Is it interesting to think back then that you are as broken as people working as you think back then and that you are as broken as you work as you think today?
There was a problem at the time. There's a problem today. But I don't think it's just a Democrat brand. Republican brands aren't that good. I think everyone keeps voting from the office because I don't think anyone has fundamentally changed their lives. They see economic stagnation in their communities while wealth builds up in places like my district.
Have you ever seen Democrat voters get as angry as they are now?
No, but that's another matter. There are two levels of anger. Voters' anger is generally upset by the country's economic direction. And I argue that they have been upset over the past 20 years and are trying to vote for change.
And then there's been a particular outrage among Democrats today. They're angry that they don't see Democrats offer a clear direction in what they can do in this moment. And they don't see us rise strong enough to face the crisis. They don't see us having a clear vision of standing with the working and middle classes.
I saw a part of your town hall that was in your district. One of the people who stood out at me said, “Why do you act like things are normal?”
I remember that question.
Should Democrat incumbents now worry about this kind of frustration?
Yes, they should. They were very angry at the Senate vote, but we didn't get concessions. But that's beyond that. They want to see Congressional Democrats doing everything humanly possible to avoid cutting down the lives of their families or the deaths they think. The number of people on these panels trying to hold me in tears and crying, trying to listen.
Don't people usually shed tears?
That's never happened to me before.
You know better than most of the challenges of running a major campaign against incumbent members of Congress.
I have tried it three times. It worked once.
Are you considering supporting a major challenger in this cycle with your colleagues?
Health is the main challenge, and I think it's hypocritical to say that for me it's not. I believe people should run and we are not qualified for these seats. I personally rarely approve any major challenger, but in certain cases. With Marie Newman. Along with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I served as a well-known dual endor. I will not rule that out.
There is tension in your biography. You represent Silicon Valley and support some of its biggest names. He also co-chairs Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential election. Are you a more Bernie Sanders-style democratic socialist, or are you a Silicon Valley capitalist?
I wrote an entire book called “Progressive Capitalism.” But I call myself a growth-promoting progressive. The fundamental challenge in this country is to tackle income inequality. To tackle inequality in Milwaukee or Johnstown, Pennsylvania, requires government, but business leaders too.
I believe that I need to have higher taxes on the wealthy people in my district. Furthermore, economic dynamism, economic growth in these areas must be achieved, and technology leaders, who are business leaders, must be part of the solution.
Sounds like the beginning of a presidential candidate platform.
If someone else wants to take it, that's fine. It's philosophy. The question is, can you get this philosophy? I fundamentally believe that the country needs to do – can we have our party adopt it?
Did you refuse to run for president in 2028?
No one will rule out anything. I am a Hindu faith. And one of the great teachings of GITA is that if you fulfill your obligations without worrying about rewards, you are more likely to get rewarded.
