Progressive Congressman Urges Dems to go on Fox News: Helped Me Find ‘Weaknesses in My Point of View’

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California Congressman Ro Khanna joined Politico’s Ryan Lizza on this week’s episode of the Playbook Deep Dive Podcast and offered some strong words for his fellow Democrats on the importance of engaging with conservative media.

Khanna, a former co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) presidential campaign, spoke to Lizza about a wide range of topics from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to President Joe Biden’s failed Build Back Better bill. But, it was his comments regarding Fox News that were notable, surprising even Lizza – a veteran DC reporter.

“I was on Neil Cavuto with Fox News and he got the better of the argument. I did better…well, I will give myself an A-minus on the Fox News Sunday reports,” Khanna told Lizza. “Cavuto got the better of the argument.”

Lizza asked Khanna to explain the specifics of the argument, which he did, before noting, “It’s pretty rare to hear a congressman say they went on Fox and had a debate about a bill they really care about and that the anchor made some points you didn’t think of.”

“But that’s the whole point of going on, right?” answered Khanna. “I mean, now I’m much better armed in thinking about those arguments. So I can have a better shot at convincing the independents in my district because I now have a response.”

“Cavuto is one of the thoughtful anchors,” noted Khanna, detailing their discussion about the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“The point is, if I hadn’t gone on Fox News and I hadn’t subjected myself to that debate and I hadn’t probably lost the debate in that moment, I would never think of the counterarguments,” Khanna added, a rare admission from a member of Congress.

“I’d never think of the weaknesses in my own point of view,” he concluded.

Lizza went on to ask Khanna if he is suggesting Democrats go on Fox News and use it as a kind of sounding board:

But you’re generally of the view that, go test your arguments in that sort of crucible rather than the position that some Democrats take, which is ‘Fox News is irredeemable and we shouldn’t go on at all.’

“I am of that view that you should go on not just because it’s the politically smart thing to do because it will help you test your ideas, which allow you — right, in the modern media age,” Khanna responded before Lizza jumped in and asked, “Are there limits to that though?”

“Would you go on Tucker?” Lizza asked of Fox’s top-rated but controversial Tucker Carlson Tonight.

“I haven’t gone on Tucker. I mean, recently. I went on early on. But, yeah, there are limits. Obviously, there are limits. To anything there are limits,” the congressman replied.

“But you’re more inclined to go than not go, if you get asked?” pushed Lizza.

“I did Ben Shapiro,” Khanna said of the highly-rated conservative podcast, adding that he was “more inclined to go than not go, partly because it forces you to have an engagement.”

He continued, noting the value of appearing on places like Fox News was shown historically by other Democratic leaders:

I think it’s one of the reasons that our great politicians, Bill Clinton and Obama, were so effective is that they actually spent a lot of time in places where people didn’t agree with them.

Khanna concluded by offering some tough advice for his fellow progressives.

“I think if there’s one thing other than an aspirational vision that I would wish for people who share my same perspective on the policies, it is just to have a little bit less judgment, a little bit more humility,” he said.

“You may not have the whole truth. You may not have the whole perspective. Don’t be so self-assured of your own moral superiority,” he added later in the conversation.

Listen to the full interview above via Politico