One of Ro Khanna’s most high-profile donors, Peter Thiel, will keynote the Republican National Convention tonight and endorse Donald J. Trump for President.
As of the last reporting period, Khanna had taken $7,800 from Thiel since he began his run for Congress.
“A Trump Presidency would tear down the middle class, divide our country, and undo decades of progress. It is hypocritical of Ro to say he’ll stand up for working families and women and then take money from those helping to get Donald Trump elected,” said Congressman Mike Honda. “My question for Ro is will he denounce Donald Trump or continue aligning himself with Republican donors in order to get elected?”
Khanna, 39, is running for US Congress from California’s 17th District. A long time resident of Fremont, Calif., Khanna was drawn to Silicon Valley after finishing his education. He and his wife, Ritu Khanna, still currently reside in Fremont. Ritu has been a marketing executive and has a master’s degree in Strategic Communications from Columbia University and a B.S. from Georgetown University.
Khanna is a lecturer in the Department of Economics at Stanford University and an Adjunct Professor at Santa Clara Law School. Governor Jerry Brown appointed him to the California Workforce Development Board for the State of California, where he served as chair for the Advanced Manufacturing Committee. Khanna also served on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte and has tutored local Irvington High School students in his spare time. His pro bono legal activity includes work with the Mississippi Center for Justice on several contractor fraud cases on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims.
In 2009, President Obama appointed Khanna to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He also served on the White House Business Council, where he worked with both business and labor for policies that promote to bring back American manufacturing jobs, according to his website.
