Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) visited the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) on Friday, Oct. 23 as part of his Students for Solidarity college tour. Khanna has been visiting campuses around the country including universities in Boston, Orlando and Berkeley. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon joined Khanna for his latest stop on the tour.
Khanna said a couple reasons for his visit are to encourage the youth to vote and to boost Democratic candidates for the upcoming midterm elections.
“I am here to help get the vote out,” Khanna said. “This is my third trip to [UNR] … I have a history of being involved on this campus. I was in Las Vegas helping Aaron Ford get the vote out. Just going around the country. After this, I go to Omaha [Nebraska].”
During the town hall, Khanna spoke in front of a sign that read “An Education, Not a Debt Sentence” while voicing his support for progressive policies including affordable education, Medicare for All and an anti-war platform.
Khanna brought up Teresa Benitez-Thompson, the Democratic nominee for Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District. He linked some of the struggles Benitez-Thompson has faced as a mother to the ongoing Iran War.
“She’s a great candidate, but she’s also a mom, and she’s got kids,” Khanna said. “She says every time she goes to the grocery store… She has got to buy three gallons of milk. It costs $7.15… that’s because of the war in Iran.”
Multiple students from various organizations, including Academic Workers of Nevada-AWU (AWN-UAW) and Sunrise Movement’s UNR chapter, spoke at the event.
Victoria Peechat, a graduate assistant and member of AWN-UAW, said she knows an undergraduate student who dropped out of the University because of financial instability.
“Is education really accessible if TA’s, like myself, are driving home after teaching, deciding whether to stop for groceries or whether to stop for gas?” Peechat said.
Peechat said despite working multiple jobs, many college students still can’t afford to go to school.
AWN-UAW began organizing during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to improve the working conditions of graduate assistants in the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). Since then, the organization has expanded to include postdoctoral workers as well.
The Sunrise Movement UNR chapter worked alongside Khanna’s team to organize the town hall.
Michael Keyes, coordinator for the organization, said Khanna’s team had reached out to them to host the event.
“Khanna shares many of our values, and opportunities like this help get more students involved in the political process,” Keyes said. “We’re proud to help create spaces where students can engage with leaders and make their voices heard.”
On stage, Keyes also recalled a recent encounter he had with an attendee from the Nevada Republican Party’s fall meeting at Peppermill Resort Spa and Casino on Saturday, Oct. 3. Keyes talked about being allegedly strangled at the event.
“This politics of violence and hate must be rejected,” Keyes said.
Keyes said the interaction was disappointing, though not surprising. He then claimed that the Republican Party was trying to silence him because of the power organizations such as Sunrise Movement hold. He urged the audience to vote.
Halfway through the event, Khanna detailed his vision of a possible Democratic-controlled Congress following the midterm elections. The Silicon Valley congressman shifted his focus to President Donald Trump and the Republican party. He talked about the “Epstein class” and those that have been implicated in the 3.5 million pages of documents that he and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Tenn.) have spearheaded the release of.
He said Republican representatives were originally supportive of his cause to release Jeffery Epstein-related files, until they got a call from Trump.
“That’s when Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) actually started to turn [on Trump] and say, ‘you want me to just abandon these survivors?’ It became personal for her, for Massie and me,” Khanna said. “It became beyond politics. We saw survivors in our offices break down in tears.”
Greene had been one of Trump’s supporters until her public feud with the president over how he handled the Epstein Files. This led to her resignation from the House of Representatives on Jan. 5, 2026.
After losing his bid for reelection in his party’s primary to challenger Ed Gallrein, Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is also on his way out of Congress. Gallrein secured Trump’s endorsement for the Republican Party’s nomination.
Khanna segued the conversation into his thoughts on a recent controversial Ohio advertisement. The ad, aired on behalf of Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, featured the mother of the Democratic candidate in the race, Amy Acton, calling her daughter a “liar” and urging Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton has been estranged from her mother since she was 12. Her step-father, Cledith Arthur, was also charged with sexually abusing her.
Khanna said the Republican Party has been doing despicable things, and they don’t have shame.
“Isn’t that the difference today in the Republican Party? It’s the shamelessness,” Khanna said. “They’re not even denying it. They’re defending it.”
From there, Khanna made his case for universal healthcare and the abolition of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) while calling for a change of leadership within his own party.
“I’m a New Deal Democrat, not a Chuck Schumer Democrat,” Khanna said. “[Schumer’s] mealy-mouthed platitudes have cost us… it’s time for a new generation of boldness.”
Khanna also defended his previous criticisms of Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, who is largely seen as one of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination in the 2028 presidential cycle.
“It’s not personal,” Khanna said. “We need to have policy disagreement. I am not for a kumbaya Democratic Party that doesn’t stand for anything.”
According to the Nevada Independent, Khanna is a potential 2028 presidential Democratic nominee. In his interview with the news organization, Khanna said he was weighing a presidential bid. He believes he understands the future economy and described himself as a New Deal Democrat who will hold corporations and billionaires accountable.
The town hall concluded with Khanna answering questions from the audience, where he said his viewpoints aren’t radical in the Trump era of American politics.
