The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on June 7, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But we begin this morning with Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California. Good to have you here in person.
REP. RO KHANNA: Good to be back.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re just back from Maine, and on Tuesday, there’s a primary there for Democrats. It will help to determine who is going to challenge Susan Collins for her seat. She is the longtime Republican senator who has held on to it. This is all ultimately about who is going to control Congress, control the Senate. There’s been a lot of excitement around Graham Platner, who we mentioned there, right at the top. He’s a veteran, an oyster man with this anti-establishment progressive message. Why are you still campaigning for him after all of these questions about action, comments, activity in his personal life.
REP. KHANNA: Well we had a rally planned, and I want to be clear: his actions were misogynistic, they were shameful, they were wrong, but they didn’t come as a surprise to a lot of the folks in Maine. People in Maine knew that he had had two tours of duty in Iraq. He came back broken in a dark place. That doesn’t excuse his behavior, but they knew this. He was in Washington, and then he went back to Maine, and he started an oyster farm. He took accountability. He himself has said it was shameful, and he had redemption. And now he’s running on a platform of national health insurance when Susan Collins is voting to cut it. He’s talking about taxing billionaires. Susan Collins is for tax breaks to billionaires, and he’s opposed to this foreign war where Susan Collins supported the war in Iran, and that’s why I’m still supporting him.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But I want to go through some of what we’re referring to here in specifics. The campaign acknowledged a candidate sent sexually explicit texts to multiple women while he was married, quite recently. He’s acknowledged he had a tattoo with Nazi symbols that he’s since covered up, but he claimed he didn’t know the linkage and the symbolism, and he’s had social media posts insulting rural people downplaying sexual assault. He has apologized or said he regrets some of that behavior. As you just alluded to, he has also referred to the fact he has dealt with PTSD and some alcohol issues. Are you confident all the damaging info is out?
REP. KHANNA: That’s what he says. My sense is, before the primary, a lot of this has come out. Obviously, look, if there was evidence of violence. I would not support him. If there was evidence of sexual assault, I’d have zero support for him. He acknowledges that he was misogynistic, it was shameful. One thing I want to make very clear, we should not be attacking the women who came forward. We should not be attacking the journalists. Some people have been attacking the New York Times journalists- they’re- they did their job. We should focus on acknowledging it was misogynistic, acknowledging it was wrong, moving on with redemption, and then focusing on his issues, which are stopping the war, taking on the billionaire class.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You said there was no evidence of violence. You- in your view, there’s nothing credible at this point,
REP. KHANNA: My view is that even according to the New York Times piece, they said there was no harm, no injury, there was toxicity, and there was verbal intimidation, which I condemn, but Graham has made it clear that there was no evidence of violence, that to me is a red line.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, because there’s this woman, Lyndsey Field, who dated him for about two years’ time, and she’s been posting on social media, speaking on the record about their relationship. She said he left an AR 15 lying around his Capitol Hill apartment when he lived here, told her if anyone broke in he’d rape them to show he’s dominant. She did say he never hit her or punched her, but said he could be rough, and she described being grabbed by her shoulder. She described him pulling her arm as she was refusing to get out of a car. Years ago, the mantra was ‘believe all women.’ Do you believe her?
REP. KHANNA: Yes, and I don’t think our side should be attacking her, and I appreciate her courage from coming forward. I know some people are saying, ‘Oh, she’s a Republican.’ I think that is irrelevant. I believe her. I think Graham acted shamefully, and he acted as The New York Times characterized it, as a toxic relationship. It is shameful. It is ugly. It happened in a dark period of his life, and the Maine voters that I met said they don’t like it. They knew that he had these chapters. They are willing to extend him grace and redemption, and they’re focused now on what he’s running for. But I do not think we should be attacking her.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So it is his campaign, the Platner campaign, that described the accuser as a GOP operative who has dedicated her career to electing Republicans. She is a conservative. Would you advise the campaign to stop attacking her?
REP. KHANNA: Absolutely. They should not attack her. They should not attack the New York Times reporters who wrote the story. I know those reporters, they have written things critical of me. That’s what journalists do. Donald Trump is the one who attacks the press. Our party doesn’t attack the press. Our party believes that you treat women with equality and respect in all aspects of their lives. Graham Platner did not do that in the early 2000s. He should just say what he has said to Maine voters, that was a shameful period in his life. He’s ashamed of that conduct, and that’s what makes him different, is that he’s taken accountability for that period of his life. Others, like Trump, have never taken accountability.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you mentioned the PTSD, and he has been very open about that. What he went through, coming back from, I believe, three tours in Iraq, and then he worked in a private capacity in Afghanistan. But some veterans groups have said that, you know, he’s basically using it as an excuse for bad behavior.
REP. KHANNA: I don’t think–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –and maligning them in that way,
REP. KHANNA: It’s- it’s not an excuse, it doesn’t justify him being in toxic relationships or saying misogynistic things–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Because it sounds like it’s being used as an excuse.
REP. KHANNA: Well, I don’t view, in fact, in my remarks I said it’s not an excuse, it’s- but it’s the truth, it’s his truth of who he was, but what it should tell us is we broke a lot of people in this country by sending people to Iraq. Susan Collins sent people to Iraq, and now on the 100th day of a war in Iran, we’re breaking more people. Gas is through the roof, food is through the roof, and this Iran war is an illegal war, immoral war, an unstrategic war, and Graham Platner is running to stop it. That is the big issue that Maine voters were talking about, the war that’s increasing gas prices, the lack of healthcare, but I don’t believe PTSD should be an excuse for bad behavior. But we do need to recognize the toll these wars are taking on people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And Platner did protest against the war, but that was before he enlisted in the Marines. And then subsequently worked in a private capacity in Afghanistan, another war zone.
REP. KHANNA: He was patriotic. Look, I ran against the war in Iraq in 2003. That was how I started. He was opposed to the war. We have made a mistake by getting into the war in Iraq. Now he served the country, but one of the reasons he went into PTSD, if you talk to him, as he said, I realized that my service did not have a purpose for doing good. And now you’ve got Susan Collins, who has been an apologist for the war in Iran on this 108 What have we achieved? You still have an Iranian regime there, they still have the nuclear fuel there, the gas prices are through the roof. And why is Platner in the race? Because he’s saying stop these foreign wars.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So it just- I raise this because I have heard Democrats argue over this issue, and the worry that they are ceding the moral high ground that they want to hold in order to stand on it and criticize Republicans, right? BREAKING NEWS has spoken to a former campaign official who expressed concern about the lack of vetting of Platner. This sounds like it’s just, you know, this is just politics,
REP. KHANNA: Like I said, the people in Maine were not surprised. I mean, it was a surprise to the national story. They knew that when he was in DC, he had shameful parts of his life. Then he came back, he started an oyster farm, he was on the ocean for years, he found himself. But the big issue for voters, in my view, is, are you for these wars, are you for taxing billionaires? Are you for national health insurance? And that’s the contrast, and the campaign is a vetting process, and the voters of Maine are asking these–
MARGARET BRENNAN: The campaign’s the vetting process?
REP. KHANNA: Well, the primary campaign, I mean, it’s been a year of campaigning that he has, that he has had.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Can he survive another scandal? You have five months here.
REP. KHANNA: Well, it depends. What I’m not, you know, I mean, obviously, if there was any evidence that comes out that there is actual domestic violence or assault, I have zero tolerance for that. I led the fight against the Epstein class, which has been a cover-up for sexual abuse with Thomas Massie. I’ve been at the forefront of championing women’s rights and rights of survivors, but here you have a case of someone who had a dark chapter in his life, was in toxic relationships, was ashamed about it, who served this country, and the Maine voters are saying, Look, let’s give him some grace, and his focus is stopping these wars, and it’s getting national health insurance, and it’s taking on economic inequality,
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. And that is the progressive message that you are supporting. Ro Khanna, thank you for your time.
REP. KHANNA: Thank you.