Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) discussed the need for a specific type of patriotism in an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising” on Tuesday.
“Most people whether they’re white, Black, Latino, Asian, if you talk to them, they’re proud of being American. They are proud of our country,” Khanna said on Hill.TV’s “Rising.”
He added that it was not the “blind patriotism” of American exceptionalism for which he was advocating, but instead an “honest and reflective patriotism.”
“What makes America exceptional is that we are an immigrant nation, that we will aspire to be the first multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy in this world and that we ought to celebrate an aspiration and those ideals,” Khanna said, citing what Frederick Douglass once pushed for in “A Composite Nation.”
“I see no reason why we shouldn’t have that aspirational vision of America and appeal to people’s sense that they love this country and they want this country to do well,” he added.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.