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Ro Khanna, Ethan Agarwal clash over wealth tax, campaign funding
The exchange erupted after Khanna cited a video clip of venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya to accuse tech leaders of funding Agarwal’s campaign to defeat him and stop his proposed 5% tax on 250 billionaires.
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Staff Reporter - Mon, 24, Aug 2026
- 00:11 EDT
- 37
Ro Khanna and Ethan Agarwal / X
Rep. Ro Khanna and his former primary challenger, tech entrepreneur Ethan Agarwal, locked horns online over Silicon Valley political influence, wealth taxes and campaign ethics.
The exchange erupted after Khanna cited a video clip of venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya to accuse tech leaders of funding Agarwal’s campaign to defeat him and stop his proposed 5% tax on 250 billionaires.
In his post on X, Khanna targeted Palihapitiya directly: “Eloquent @chamath yet you guys ran someone against me b/c I want 250 billionaires to pay a 5% tax so that poor kids have health care. We only need this b/c billionaires like you support Trump & his draconian cuts to Medicaid.”
Agarwal fired back, rejecting the claim that tech elites pulled the strings behind his primary run: “Nobody ‘ran me against you.’ I did get support from tech folks. And small business owners ... It wasn’t enough but I’m proud we put up a fight ...”
Nobody “ran me against you.”
— Ethan Agarwal (@ethanagarwal) August 23, 2026
I did get support from tech folks. And small business owners. And the Israeli population, the Iranians, the Hindus, and many others. It wasn’t enough but I’m proud we put up a fight and voiced our concerns.
Remember, you’ve raised more money from… https://t.co/gz6uxNyjsD
Agarwal accused Khanna of hypocrisy, asserting that the lawmaker relies heavily on billionaire donors while publicly criticizing tech leaders, while pointing to high-volume family stock trades made during Khanna’s tenure in Congress.
“Remember, you’ve raised more money from more billionaires than any Congressperson in the history of America (including two people on the Epstein list whose money you haven’t yet returned.)”
Also Read: Ro Khanna slams Spencer Pratt over ‘Zero Mozarts’ remark about India
Rebutting Khanna’s tax proposal, Agarwal argued that raising rates won’t fix state services without deeper structural changes, stating, “We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.”
Tech entrepreneur Agarwal challenged five-term Democratic incumbent Khanna in the nonpartisan top-two primary for California’s 17th Congressional District.
Agarwal ultimately placed fourth in the primary field with 6.5% of the vote, while Khanna comfortably secured the top spot with 62.3% to advance to the general election.
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