Ro Khanna
Role at the time: U.S. representative from California
Statement summary
Rep. Ro Khanna wrote on X that too many demotivated Democrats stayed home in 2016 and 2024 and that, in the upcoming election, Democrats need to quit calling Bernie Sanders an "antisemite" and stop wasting time attacking Hasan Piker instead of what he called Trump's robber baron corruption.
“Too many demotivated Democrats stayed home in 2016 and 2024. We can’t repeat past mistakes. In this upcoming election, we need to: Quit calling @BernieSanders an “antisemite.” Stop wasting time attacking Hasan Piker instead of Trump’s robber baron corruption.”
Washington Examiner report, published August 26, 2026, that embeds Rep. Ro Khanna's post on X.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The case asks how people responded to Piker's August 20 remarks about American Jews and Israel, including whether they read them as a warning or as an implicit threat. Khanna's post does not describe or evaluate the remarks themselves. It says Democrats should stop wasting time attacking Piker instead of what Khanna called Trump's robber baron corruption, which downplays the importance of the controversy, so we labeled it Minimized.