'I won't cave': US rep. Ro Khanna hits back against AIPAC attack ads

Weeks before primary elections in the United States, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) are launching attack ads against representative Ro Khanna and other progressive politicians—a move that could prove counter-productive given the group's rapidly declining popularity.

Khanna, widely considered a strong contender for the 2028 presidential election, is hitting back hard with statements that might have seemed unheard of just a few years ago, when silence was the most common response to such attacks.

"AIPAC just poured money into a series of ads in my district, called me a liar for speaking out about the truth in Gaza," he said in a video address shared on his social media platforms, in which he seemed to turn his response to AIPAC's attack ads into his own campaign promotion, with the video's images then featuring crowds of supporters gathering around him as he spoke on stage.

"They're asking you to disbelieve what you see on your own phone with your own eyes. AIPAC wants to weaken me electorally and prevent me from having a seat at the table in the leadership of our country," he continued.

"Now ask why. Because I won't cave to the special interests. I won't cave to the special interests when it comes to Gaza," he said, going on to list other special interests that he wouldn't accept, such as universal healthcare, artificial intelligence, and the Epstein files (of the convicted sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein).

"AIPAC is attacking me because I choose to fight for peace," he said, emphasising that he supports a Palestinian state.

In the previous years, the notorious Israel lobby group were able to air attack ads with little pushback—in some cases eliciting silence from their targets for fear of bad PR.

These days, however, the group that once dominated a large portion of the election cycle are increasingly considered a liability.

"AIPAC's popularity has plummeted. People are feeling more comfortable speaking truth to power," Connor Farrell, founder and CEO of Left Rising, a progressive fundraising organisation.

"I think it's because more and more people are becoming aware of the truth about what's happening in Gaza," he said.

Also, earlier this month, in what might be considered a passing of the torch from the neoliberal era to the progressive era in Democratic politics, Khanna hit back at former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over recent remarks she made about young people’s support for Palestinian human rights.

Clinton had said that young Americans were increasingly supporting Palestinians due to made-up videos on TikTok, to which Khanna publicly told her to "not disparage the intelligence of young people" on Israel.