Khanna Brags He Never Insulted Trump Fans — Demands Apology for Calling Mamdani Voters Stupid in CNN Brawl

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) bragged that he never insulted Trump fans as he demanded an apology from a supporter of President Donald Trump for “insulting the intelligence” of New York City mayoral candidate and Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s (D-NY) supporters.

Mamdani is the shock frontrunner in a four-way race between Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams (D-NY), and Curtis Sliwa (R-NY) in a race that Trump has waded into with both feet.

On Thursday’s edition of CNN NewsNight, anchor Abby Phillip hosted a panel comprised of Rep. Ro Khanna, Hal Lambert, Betsy McCaughey, Xochitl Hinojosa, and Roy Wood Jr.

When McCaughey called Mamdani’s success an indictment of the education system, Khanna took great offense:

PHILLIP: And the idea that Mamdani has taken ideas that you and many other people think are completely outrageous, that are so extreme, and he is — he went from nobody knows who this guy is to being the probable next mayor of the city is something that only a few people do. And one of the people who did that type of thing was Donald Trump. That’s my point.

MCCAUGHEY: You’re very perceptive to point that out. But I would say also that the rise of Mamdani in this primary reflects two things, a pathetic failure of our education system that so many of these young people who turned out to support Mamdani, haven’t reasoned in their own minds what his crime policies will do to make the streets so unsafe, what his freeze the rent policies will do to turn New York literally into a slum within ear (ph) as this housing stock becomes totally —

LAMBERT: Don’t forget, take over the grocery stores. Take over grocery stores too.

KHANNA: Because I think I never criticized the people who voted for Donald Trump. I never insult their intelligence. I think they’re honorable fellow Americans. And for you to insult the intelligence of people who voted for Mamdani —

MCCAUGHEY: Not their intelligence.

(CROSSTALKS)

KHANNA: I condemned Clinton when she used deplorables, and you are basically saying that people who voted for Mamdani are stupid, shame on you. Shame on you. You should apologize.

MCCAUGHEY: I will not apologize because I’m absolutely right. When you listen to these 30-year-olds think they’d freeze the rent —

KHANNA: They have more moral ideology and they’re more —

(CROSSTALKS)

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

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