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Ro Khanna Sees Graham Platner As the Nation's Path to 'Redemption'

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  June 08, 2026 11:00 AM

For people who claim to want separation of church and state, the contemporary Democratic Party sure has a quasi-religious bent to it these days. It's wrong, for example, for Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to have a Jerusalem cross tattoo — a symbol I have hanging in my home above my back door, made from wood in Israel — but it's somehow not wrong for Graham Platner to spend most of his adult life with a symbol used by Nazi death camp guards.

Hegseth's tattoo was an alarming display of Christian nationalism, after all. Platner simply made a mistake when he sat down and let a tattoo artist spend a few hours inking that image of genocide and death into his skin. I've received five tattoos in my life; none of them was a 'mistake.' 

I didn't get my first one until I was 30 years old, after years of deliberate planning.

I'm sure if I ran for political office, the 'Keep the Faith' ink on my right shoulder would be a troubling display of Christian nationalism, too.

But somehow, it's not a violation of the so-called concept of separation of church and state for Ro Khanna to talk about Graham Platner like he's the second coming of Jesus.

"We're broken right now, as a country," Khanna said. "It's kind of sad. My parents came here for the American dream, and I grew up, born in Philadelphia in 1976, thinking anything was possible in this country. And as we're approaching 250 years, we're feeling broken."

"So many feel unseen, unheard, undervalued, we can barely talk to each other," he continued. "Sometimes it feels like we're having different conversations. Even about the situation that we see with Graham and Amy Platner. No ability to have dialogue."

You cannot have dialogue with Democrats who think you are inherently evil because of your skin color, or that you're an American who must make amends for the ills of the world by letting Somali migrants in Minnesota rob you blind.

"Let me just say something: there is no way we will restore what Lincoln called our bonds of affection with fellow citizens if we comment on each other with harsh judgment and ridicule," Khanna went on. 

For crying out loud, Leftists podcaster Jennifer Welch keeps calling Susan Collins — Susan Collins — 'fascist to the core'. She voted to convict Trump during his impeachment. But because she happens to have an (R) after her name, she's a fascist. How do you dialogue with that?

"For this country to heal, we need to find some way of having grace. We need to find some way of having redemption. We need to find some way of saying that if someone felt hurt by Graham in a past relationship, we can listen to them and we can listen to Graham and we can have conversations as mature Americans, as fellow citizens."

Oh really? After the news broke that Platner abused his ex-girlfriend, Democrats attacked her as merely a 'Republican operative.' There was no 'Me Too,' moment. No calls for Platner to drop out. Note the Democrats didn't do this to Eric Swalwell's accusers. Why? They wanted Swalwell gone; for whatever reasons, he was no longer useful to the party, so they showed him the door. Platner, on the other hand, is useful.

In fact, Platner's campaign had its best fundraising day after the NYT story broke.

That speaks volumes about the state of the Democratic Party, and none of it is good.

"If Graham Platner and all of you find a way to build that redemption through this campaign, through this transformation, then maybe you would show a way for this country to start to redeem itself. Because we sure need that," Khanna said.

Why does this country need to 'redeem' itself? What great national sin have we committed? 

Oh, we elected Donald Trump. That's right. That's the great, unforgivable sin we've committed in the eyes of the Democratic Party. 77 million Americans chose the guy who promised to enforce our immigration laws and clean up the mess Democrats created under Biden, and for that we must atone by electing an accused domestic abuser with a symbol of genocide emblazoned on his chest.

Who, by the way, has neither taken responsibility nor apologized for his actions. That's the first step to redemption, and Platner has simply denied, obfuscated, and otherwise passed the buck on his misdeeds.

Meanwhile, this is also the state of the typical Democratic voter.

It's simply incredible the lengths to which these deranged people will go to defend anyone and everyone with a (D) after his name. Israel hasn't committed genocide. The Nazis, on the other hand, did.

You don't need me to tell you that bit of history. You know it. I know it. Democrats like this woman know it, too.

Of course, t's not about history. It's not about facts. It's not even about logical consistency. It's about some pseudo-religious crusade from the Democrats who think electing President Trump is a moral failing. Party of Democracy, indeed.

We don't need redemption, and we certainly don't need Graham Platner to be the person to bring it. But we do need to save ourselves from the scourge of the Democratic Party.