Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a potential 2028 presidential contender, drew criticism from across the political spectrum after pointing to the riots in France as a warning about wealth inequality and urging the U.S. to «listen to our young.»

«This is what happens when the nations let wealth and power accumulate in the hands of a few,» Khanna wrote in a post to X on Sunday evening.

Khanna’s post comes on the heels of nationwide demonstrations over the cost of living and public services that descended into violence, looting and arson in several French cities on Saturday, prompting critics to accuse the progressive Democrat of giving political legitimacy to the destruction.

Spencer Pratt, former mayoral candidate for Los Angeles, blasted what he saw as an attempt to side with rioters.

JONATHAN TURLEY: SOCIALISM IS BACK IN STYLE AND DEMOCRATS ARE BUYING THE PITCH

«Of course Rohit Conman sees mass communist riots destroying businesses and historic buildings in Paris and lies about it as some noble ‘ask’ for justice,» Pratt wrote.

«These commies lie as easily as they breathe.»

The comment also drew criticism from Shannon Watts, a Democratic gun activist who, in recent months, has criticized the far-left portions of her party.

«If you’re a member of Congress who condemned the January 6 insurrection, you don’t get to excuse riots in France as a ‘cry for help.’ Political violence doesn’t become acceptable just because you sympathize with people committing it,» Watts wrote in a post of her own.

Still others warned Khanna against using the moment as a way to build political momentum.

«Ro Khanna has long sought to ride the rage wave to power,» Jonathan Turley, a political commentator and legal analyst, said.

«Khanna could indeed learn much from France. This is history repeating itself. That history, by the way, does not bode well for establishment figures who pander to the mob,» Turley added, giving a nod to the infamous French Revolution that targeted the country’s political and financial elite in a bloody crusade.

Planned demonstrations in France over the weekend quickly spiraled out of control on Saturday, leaving behind broken storefronts and fires in Paris.

French authorities said that by Sunday evening they had arrested nearly 2,400 people nationwide, including 855 in the Paris region. Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured, seven seriously, according to France’s Interior Ministry. One protester died after suffering cardiac arrest during demonstrations in Paris, authorities said.

WHERE’S MACRON? FRENCH LEADER BLASTED FOR ATTENDING CONCERT AS RIOTS ESCALATED

In Limoges, a fire that authorities said was deliberately set at the city hall caused significant damage to the historic building. Shops were looted in Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon and other cities, while public buildings were vandalized or targeted by fires.

Authorities estimated that more than 550,000 people participated in demonstrations across France. Organizers put the figure at roughly 800,000.

Despite the mayhem, Khanna argued the moment should prompt American lawmakers to take younger voters’ political demands more seriously, especially on topics of equity.

«This is what happens when young people lose hope in their future. In America, let us listen to our young. We need an economic and political transformation. America’s Next New Deal,» Khanna wrote.

«From the high schools of France to the streets of Madrid to the universities of Tirana, young people are telling their governments the same thing: in an age of massive wealth inequality, they want a future they can believe in,» Khanna wrote.

But in the face of the backlash online, Khanna quickly clarified his stance in a follow-up post, noting that he did not support the destruction that had unfolded.

«I unequivocally condemn violence and vandalism. I have always championed my grandfather’s example of non-violent protest,» Khanna wrote, referencing his relative, Amarnath Vidyalankar, who was imprisoned for advocating for India’s independence in the early 1930s.

«Let us not be blind to the anger young people have against the unholy alliance of wealth and power. The billionaires buying politicians. The corruption,» Khanna added.

But even after issuing his clarifying statement, Khanna continued to face condemnation — even from figures like former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y.

«These are not mere students… my friend, I regret to inform you, this is an invasion,» Santos wrote, referring to France’s high intake of refugees in recent years.

Khanna, responding to Santos, doubled down on his view.

BERNIE SANDERS ADMITS DEMOCRATS FAILED WORKING-CLASS VOTERS ON ECONOMICS, DRIVING THEM TO DONALD TRUMP

«George, is the lesson not to tackle the vast disparity here and young people’s hopelessness?» he asked.

Khanna’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Digital.

Bradford Benz contributed to this report

politics, france, world protests, democratic party

EXCLUSIVE: WICHITA, KANSAS — President Donald Trump is expected to tout his immigration agenda in ruby-red Kansas on Monday, weeks after federal immigration agents made dozens of arrests in the southwestern portion of the state.

Trump is headed to the Sunflower State for a rally just outside of Wichita as a tighter-than-expected Senate race that could determine the balance of power in the upper chamber unfolds.

Digital has learned that Trump will lean into the policy positions that helped propel him and Republicans to power two years ago.

TRUMP DHS HITS 16 STRAIGHT MONTHS WITH 0 RELEASES AT THE BORDER

«President Trump stopped the invasion of our country and delivered Americans the most secure border in American history,» White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Digital. «Under the President’s leadership, 3 million illegals have left the United States and zero illegals have been released at the border in seventeen months.»

«Meanwhile, radical Democrats want to go back to their extreme open border policies, abolish ICE, and grant amnesty to the illegal aliens they released into our communities,» she continued.

The Trump-led Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have touted a string of arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants in the state over the last several months.

GEORGIA ICE SWEEP NABS OVER 700 CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS, INCLUDING SEX OFFENDERS, CHILD ABUSERS

According to the White House, among some of the «worst of the worst» who were arrested in the state by federal immigration officers include Omar Israel Hernandez of Mexico, convicted of first-degree murder, Jose Luis Rauda-Diaz of El Salvador, convicted of aggravated robbery and two counts of possession of a weapon, Oscar Sanchez-Corona of Mexico, who had previously been deported for drug offenses, damaging property, and driving under the influence, Greg Chukwuka Orji of Nigeria, convicted of dangerous drugs and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and Alberto Estrada of Mexico, convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and rape.

Trump’s rally comes as the race between Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton has cranked up in a state the president has won by double-digits in the last three presidential cycles and has given Republicans cause for concern in a state where voters haven’t elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century.

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan race ranker, downgraded the contest to a toss-up earlier this month and money from GOP and Democratic groups is flowing into the state.

KANSAS DEMOCRAT BEGS KAMALA HARRIS NOT TO CAMPAIGN WITH HIM, ‘PLEASE DO NOT COME TO MY STATE’

Marshall, who is vying for a second term, has run close to Trump, rarely breaking from him on key issues throughout this cycle. Hamilton, however, has run away from the Democratic establishment in Washington, D.C., and warned that if elected, he wouldn’t support Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for another term leading the caucus.

Trump’s appearance in the state also follows ICE’s three-day sweep in Southwest Kansas last month, dubbed «Operation Safe Community — Kansas,» where agents made over 100 arrests.

Marshall pushed back on the operation, demanding that «when ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement.»

«Our sheriffs and police know these communities better than anyone, and working together keeps officers and residents safe,» Marshall said on X.

Meanwhile, Republicans have targeted Hamilton for his immigration stance, accusing him through ads run by outside groups, like the Senate Leadership Fund, of supporting mass amnesty.

Hamilton, however, pushed back on the Biden administration’s immigration policies and told the Johnson County Post that the previous administration’s open border policies «caused a different kind of chaos.»

«Record crossings overwhelmed communities, and the immigration courts fell years behind,» Hamilton said. «I’m not for open borders, and dangerous criminals don’t belong here.»

politics, donald trump, immigration, kansas, migrant crime

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OTTAWA: Residents of Alberta began voting Monday in a non-binding referendum that will determine whether the western-Canadian province should pursue separation from Canada.

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The vote comes at a time when the province is mourning the deaths of four soldiers, while dozens of others were injured from a fast-moving fire that burned through a military base in Alberta.

While the results of a poll involving 1,021 respondents released by Abacus Data on Saturday showed that 74% of decided voters favor Alberta remaining within the Canadian Confederation, the independence issue won’t disappear for the nearly 30% who want Alberta’s government to begin the process to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada, according to veteran separatist organizer Cory Morgan, who leads a group called Pathway to Independence.

«It will say that about one in three Albertans have had it,» Morgan told Fox News Digital. «There is a big rift within Alberta and if things don’t change, it will be a growing faction in this province — so this vote is an important one.»

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EXCLUSIVE: ‘BROKEN COUNTRY’ FILMMAKER WARNS CANADA’S SLOW DECLINE OFFERS CAUTIONARY TALE FOR AMERICANS

Pro-separatist supporters during an Alberta Independence rally in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (John Diep/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

About 3 million Albertans are eligible to vote in the referendum.

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Another recent Abacus poll found that 61% of the 1,021 eligible voters surveyed expect Albertans will vote again on separation, even if most choose to remain in Canada.

On Friday, the Angus Reid Institute released the results of its poll that found 62% of 1,010 Albertans surveyed believe «there will never be an end to the separatist movement» in the province.

Morgan, who led the short-lived Alberta Independence Party from 2000 to 2001, said that while «a vocal minority» within the separatist movement favor Alberta becoming the 51st state, most pro-independence Albertans «don’t want to become a small fish in an even bigger pond.» He added that «Albertans in general are not too thrilled with President Trump right now and that makes them less inclined to leave the federation.»

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At a «Forever Canadian» rally on Friday in Edmonton, where he was raised, Prime Minister Mark Carney told a crowd of over 5,000 people that «this referendum comes at the worst possible time.» He said that «the world is becoming more dangerous and divided [and] some outside our borders are working to break us so they can own us,» making an indirect reference to Trump’s trade war against and annexation talk about Canada.

Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, during a Forever Canadian rally in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. In Monday’s referendum, voters will be asked if they wish to remain in Canada or begin the legal process to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether Alberta should separate. (Allison Seto/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Alberta-born and raised, 55-year-old Morgan said that his home province is «politically and culturally different» than eastern Canada. «There’s a lot more focus on individual freedoms and property rights,» he noted, acknowledging that those values are traditionally viewed as American.

«Most Albertans are going to feel much more comfortable sitting down for a beer with people from Great Falls, Montana, than they would in Ottawa,» said Morgan. He explained that when Alberta became a Canadian province in 1905, its population grew largely from a migration of Montanans, and when oil was discovered in the 1940s, U.S. companies Chevron and Mobil helped develop what became Alberta’s biggest industry.

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Also, earlier this year during an appearance on Real America’s Voice at Davos, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described Alberta as «a natural partner for the U.S.» and described Albertans as «very independent people.»

In response, Carney said that he «expect[ed] the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty.»

Earlier this month, The Globe and Mail reported that Alberta separatist leaders met with Republican strategists in Calgary in January to look at software designed to identify and mobilize supporters. Separatist leaders also reportedly suggested exchanging water and oil for U.S. support when they met with State Department officials in Washington last year.

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CANADIAN PM TELLS TRUMP TO ‘STOP TRYING TO BE TOUGH’ IN TRADE FIGHT

Danielle Smith, premier of Alberta and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP), speaks during a press conference at the Alberta Legislature on May 6, 2025, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Premier Smith acknowledged that separation sentiment has long existed in Alberta and, while she doesn’t support it, said Albertans have a democratic right to express concerns and debate the province’s place in Canada. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told CBC News that if most Albertans support staying in Canada, she would not hold another referendum on the matter as long as she heads the provincial government.

However, on Oct. 18, 2027, residents of the province will vote again in a general election, and Smith could be out of her job by then, warned Morgan, a founding member of the former conservative Wildrose Party, for which Smith served as leader.

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That party merged with the then-Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta in 2020 to form the United Conservative Party (UCP) that Smith heads. But Morgan explained that more than half of the UCP’s nearly 55,000 members support Alberta’s independence. The premier has said that she will vote to keep the province in Canada.

Angus Reid, founder and chairman of the Angus Reid Institute, told Fox News Digital that in his firm’s recent polling, 67% of the 293 UCP voters who support a future binding referendum on separation said that they would either «definitely support» or «consider» supporting the creation of a separatist provincial political party – not unlike the Parti Québécois, which won the recent election in Quebec.

«Make Alberta Great Again» hats sit on display for sale in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019. (Leah Hennel/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The emergence of an independence party in Alberta «would probably spell the death of the UCP since it is so badly divided between separatists and non-separatists, and it would likely end the career of Danielle Smith because of the amount of breakage in her party,» said Reid, whose firm’s survey found that 60% of the respondents who support a future binding referendum are «more likely sending a message to Ottawa» about the Canadian government’s often fractious relationship with Alberta.

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«Separatist types are looking at how much leverage Quebec has been able to achieve in Canada as a result of its threats of exiting, and saying ‘Hold it, we can play that game too,’» explained Reid.

As of Saturday, more than 1.2 million Albertans had cast a ballot on the referendum, which, in addition to the question on separation, has nine others, five focusing on immigration, such as one asking voters whether their province should take more control «for the purposes of decreasing immigration to more sustainable levels, prioritizing economic migration and giving Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities.»

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Christopher Guly is an Ottawa-based journalist and longtime member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery. He has reported from Canada for several media outlets in the U.S. and the U.K. He can be followed on X @ChristopherGuly

canada, mark carney, elections