US lawmaker Ro Khanna defends calling witness ‘racist’ in explosive China committee clash

3-MIN READ3-MIN2ListenPublished: 9:00pm, 30 Jun 2026Updated: 9:09pm, 30 Jun 2026Ro Khanna, the ranking member of the US House Select Committee on China, has defended calling a witness “racist” during testimony last week over comments on Chinese-Americans who obtain US citizenship through birthright.The heated exchange took place during a June 25 hearing on economic espionage and subnational influence, where Khanna confronted Michael Lucci, founder of the Texas-based State Armor non-profit organisation, over a controversial social media post published in April.In the post, Lucci referenced two Chinese-Americans – one linked by authorities to an alleged attempted bombing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida and the other suspected of being an accessory. He argued that the accused pair had obtained US citizenship through birthright citizenship and said they were “not loyal to the USA”.08:08Widespread anti-immigrant operations spark fear in Asian communities across the USExpanding beyond that case, Lucci said about 1.5 million people were “essentially born in Saipan and raised in Communist China” through birth tourism.