Khanna: Trump trials should not compromise campaign schedule

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.) said Tuesday that former President Trump’s trials should not compromise his “ability to have a robust campaign schedule” if he secures the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. 

“I do think we need to make sure that in the timing, if Trump does emerge as the Republican nominee, that it does not compromise the ability to have a robust campaign schedule,” Khanna said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “I imagine that the courts will take that into consideration if he is the nominee.” 

Khanna’s comments come after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan set Trump’s Washington, D.C., trial for March 4, one day before Super Tuesday, when voters in more than a dozen states will head to the polls for the Republican presidential primary. The date is shortly after special counsel Jack Smith’s original request for a Jan. 2 trial date, but far earlier than the Trump team’s suggested date in April 2026. 

While arguing appeals may move Trump’s D.C. trial date, Khanna said his “instinct” is that the judges would not hold his trials at a time that could compromise his campaign performance. 

“My instinct on all of this is they’re not going to have trials in the middle of something that’s going to compromise a candidate’s ability — who has real traction — to have a fair fight,” Khanna said. 

Khanna, a leading House progressive, has paid close attention to the 2024 campaign calendar in recent months as he’s traveled around the country to key battleground states. He’s officially endorsed President Biden and speaks to voters on behalf of the Democratic agenda, but he has also occasionally differed from some within his party on the order of primaries and caucuses in early voting states. 

The D.C. trial is one of Trump’s three trials currently scheduled during the primary process in 2024. His fourth case in Georgia has yet to be scheduled but could also fall during campaign season.

Trump’s trial over an alleged hush money scheme before the 2016 election is slated to begin March 25 in Manhattan, two days after the Louisiana primary and one week before the April 2 primaries in Delaware, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. 

The trial over Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office is scheduled in Florida for May 20, one day before Kentucky and Oregon hold their primary elections. 

The former president has argued his mounting legal troubles are likely to take him away from the campaign trail at times. 

While maintaining the judges should consider Trump’s dual trial and campaign timelines, Khanna noted some of the allegations against Trump are “very serious.” 

“You can’t just say, ‘OK because someone was president or someone is a candidate that you’re above the law,’ everyone is under the law and that these … allegations, with the evidence, need to be pursued,” Khanna said. 

Hanna Trudo contributed.