Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) floated a possible 2028 presidential run in a Sunday interview touting his ability to resonate with Latino voters and regain support from the working-class population for the Democratic party.
"Obviously, like any other elected official, especially ones that won red states in 2024, we have to look at it," Gallego told NBC News.
"No matter who runs, even if it's not me, the candidate that wins in 2028 is going to have to get the Latino vote back to at least 62 percent. That is the 'Pass Go' line, collect $200 on the Monopoly board. We didn't hit that in 2024 and that's why we find ourselves in this situation," he added.
The Arizona Democrat is a Harvard University graduate, Marine Corps veteran and was raised in a single-parent home.
His ability to capture a voting bloc inside of a red state carried by President Trump in the last election has sparked some discussion about Gallego contending for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
A major focus for the senator remains the inclusion of Latin American voters as an ideal base for party success amid increased immigration and deportation operations.
"If you talk to working-class Latinos, we're very, unfortunately, we have too much experience with immigration. We know there needs to be an immigration force that deports bad people. We want bad people out. We want bad people stopped from getting in illegally," Gallego said during the NBC interview.
"We do need to reform it. We need to right-size it. We need to pen it in to make sure that it's not being abusive. But this idea that there's not going to be an immigration enforcement mechanism this country is ridiculous, because that's never going to happen," he added.
Amid the ongoing war in Iran, Gallego said he disagrees with backing Israel's offensive strike campaign and their attacks on Lebanon but supports giving them resources for defense.
"Like any other ally in this in this world, I can't imagine stopping defensive weapons going to any of our friends because in that situation if they're raining down bombs you're hitting people that are especially in Israel they're Arabs Christians Jews people that are pro-war against war. It's indiscriminatory," Gallego who previously served in Iraq told NBC.
"I know that's not a popular thing. I'm sure everyone wants to be on the other side but I've seen civilians get hurt in war by both sides and it's not something you want to be responsible for," he added.
The Arizona senator supported a war powers resolution against Trump in December and has recently backed the narrative that the president has no strategy for the war in Iran.
He slammed the economic consequences of the conflict and urged the White House to reprioritize working-class families in decisions related to the repeated strikes on Tehran's infrastructure.
In the NBC interview, Gallego also shared that his family is a large priority and noted that a national campaign could impede his presence at home.
"I have three kids -- for now. We're a young family. We might want to have more. I have to look at it to make sure that I'm actually going to be good at it," Gallego said.
He also floated supporting a different nominee if it means Democrats have a better chance at taking the White House in 2028.
"If someone else can win this, then there's no reason for me to be egotistical about this," he said in the interview.