Ro Khanna 在 12 月 26 日约晚上 9 点发文，讽刺 Peter Thiel 可能为了避开加州公投提案而撤离；该提案拟对超过 10 亿美元个人资产课征 5% 财富税。他先前支持财富税但未就加州版本表态，这次却以「economic royalists」等语气触发捐款人反弹；Martin Casado 等人公开批评，他过去在国会被视为科技业的可靠辩护者，却在这一刻转向以对抗捐助者来重塑形象。
捐款与政治讯号呈现数字化对照：Ron Conway 转而支持对手，Vinod Khosla 骂他「commie comrade」；在 2024 大选期间，Casado、Conway、Khosla 各自都曾捐到法定上限 3,300 美元，Thiel 也曾为他 3 次参选捐款。Khanna 于 3 月与 Bernie Sanders 推出象征性的全国财富税法案，并把反对者连结到他所称的「Epstein class」；外界一方面认定他在北加州捐款圈「完了」，另一方面却开始把他视为 2028 总统初选的潜在候选人，尽管 Kalshi 估计他胜算约 3%。
更大的趋势是 AI 政治经济的拉扯：Donald Trump 任命与 Thiel 相关的 David Sacks 主导 AI 政策，并与 Sam Altman 宣布 5,000 亿美元资料中心投资；Khanna 则批评这更像推升股价、而非创造长期工作。Pew 在 2025 年 6 月 9–15 日调查中，仅 10% 受访者「更兴奋于担忧」，50% 则「更担忧」AI；地方对高耗水与耗电的资料中心出现暂禁与撤案。回到选区面，Khanna 自 2017 年代表加州第 17 选区；2026 年第 1 季他募得 180 万美元，对手 Ethan Agarwal 募得 40 万美元，他把财富税称为「antirevolution tax」，并主张以改革来「拯救资本主义」。
On Dec. 26 at about 9 p.m., Ro Khanna posted that Peter Thiel was leaving California and mocked him as an “economic royalist,” after reading that Thiel might pull assets ahead of a proposed California ballot measure: a 5% wealth tax on individual assets above $1 billion. Khanna had previously backed wealth taxes but had not taken a public position on the California version; the post’s tone triggered angry replies from centimillionaire and billionaire donors and marked a pivot from his long-standing role as Silicon Valley’s most reliable congressional defender.
Donor politics quickly became a numbers story: Ron Conway endorsed a primary opponent and Vinod Khosla called Khanna “commie comrade”; in Khanna’s 2024 campaign, Martin Casado, Conway, and Khosla each gave the legal maximum of $3,300, and Thiel had donated to three of Khanna’s runs. Khanna doubled down in March by introducing a symbolic national wealth-tax bill with Bernie Sanders and by tying opponents to an “Epstein class,” prompting some regional donors to declare his Northern California career “over” even as insiders began treating him as a plausible 2028 presidential contender, despite Kalshi pricing him at roughly 3%.
The broader trend is the collision of AI boom politics with public skepticism: Donald Trump tapped Thiel associate David Sacks to steer AI policy and stood with Sam Altman to tout $500 billion in data-center investment, which Khanna argues boosts stock prices more than durable jobs. In a Pew survey conducted June 9–15, 2025, only 10% of respondents felt more excited than concerned about AI, while 50% felt more concerned; local backlash over water and power use has produced temporary bans and project cancellations. Back home, Khanna has represented California’s 17th District since 2017; in Q1 2026 he raised $1.8 million versus challenger Ethan Agarwal’s $0.4 million, framing a wealth tax as an “antirevolution tax” meant to reform capitalism before backlash worsens.