Ro Khanna's West Bank stunt was never about Palestinians | Opinion

Rep. Ro Khanna's recent trip to the West Bank was a masterclass in self-promotion. While the California Democrat blasted out breathless accounts of being "detained" by settlers, objective reality refused to costar in his 2028 presidential campaign trailer.

Israel's ambassador says he offered to arrange meetings with Israeli survivors of Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, as part of the trip; Khanna chose a Palestinian-led itinerary instead. If he truly wanted an "unfiltered" view, as he told reporters, balance wasn't on the menu.

But balancing the scales doesn't yield the same fundraising emails. That asymmetry reveals the selective principles behind his progressive brand.

Was Ro Khanna's 'detainment' a mere coincidence?

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Leiter, has suggested that the timing wasn't a coincidence – floating on CBS News that Khanna might have sat on footage of the settler confrontation to bury a much less flattering story back home.

That story was Graham Platner.

Khanna had publicly endorsed the progressive Maine Senate candidate, campaigning with him in June just one day after allegations of abuse from Platner's former girlfriend first surfaced, and asking Platner point-blank whether any further allegations were coming. Platner said no.

Weeks later, a rape allegation forced Platner from the race entirely, and Khanna was left admitting on "Meet the Press" on July 12 that he "got that call wrong."

A globally viral standoff with armed Israeli settlers is a convenient thing to be talking about instead.

While the U.S. House representative takes to social media calling the stock-trading status quo by lawmakers "corrupt" and demanding Congress vote on a ban, his own household's record undercuts the urgency.

He announced that his wife, Ritu Khanna, would divest from defense stocks and fossil fuels. But Sludge reported in 2022 that after his pledges, disclosures show her trust continues to trade in defense contractor General Dynamics and fossil fuel giant Phillips 66. Khanna said he has no input on the trades, which are managed by an independent trustee. But the divestment promises he made publicly was not kept.

This selective approach to accountability isn't isolated.

When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in March 2023, this self-styled champion of the everyday American pressured the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to guarantee every SVB depositor – a base heavy with the venture capitalists who fund Silicon Valley's political class.

Khanna said he had "no sympathy for the executives, no sympathy for people who have stock there," even as he fought to make sure their deposits were protected in full.

Weeks later, he kept a fundraiser at the home of David Sacks, the billionaire venture capitalist who'd spent the collapse weekend publicly demanding exactly the intervention Khanna delivered. Khanna said that the fundraiser was booked before the bank collapse, and that politics is "about bridge building."

Maybe so, but the working-class populist who wants Congress banned from trading stocks somehow always finds time for the tech donor class.

Khanna, the chameleon

This pattern forces a direct question. Does Khanna actually care about the plight of Palestinians, or does he view the West Bank as a useful stage for his ambitions?

True advocacy requires consistency and credibility, not highly confrontational encounters designed to generate viral clips and campaign material. By focusing entirely on a one-sided narrative, he risks alienating moderate voters without ever fully winning the trust of the progressive base he's courting.

The real danger is that Khanna presents himself as the sensible and sane leftie. A tireless truth teller, a man of the people.

In reality, he operates as a political chameleon, shifting his convictions to match whichever room he occupies. He plays the role of the anti-establishment rebel for national progressives while remaining a reliable servant to billionaires and venture capitalists behind closed doors.

When the cameras turn off and the fundraising emails go out, the true Ro Khanna remains exactly what he has always been: a highly calculated, elite insider whose household knows exactly how to profit from a system he claims to want to abolish.

John Mac Ghlionn is a writer and researcher who explores culture, society and the impact of technology on daily life.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ro Khanna's West Bank stunt was never about Palestinians | Opinion

Reporting by John Mac Ghlionn, Opinion contributor / USA TODAY

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This story was originally published July 16, 2026 at 4:10 AM.