See below for video and highlights from Sen. Tim Kaine’s appearance this morning on ABC’s “This Week”
- Sen. Tim Kaine on Vivek Ramaswamy and other Republican 2024 presidential candidates committing to vote for Donald Trump: “Well George, what I just heard was the complete lack of a moral compass. If you are unwilling to say that the behavior of Donald Trump trying to overturn the peaceful transfer of power is a disqualifier. If you pledge, despite that, to vote for him. If you pledge, despite that, to pardon him, should you be elected; it shows that you don’t have the moral compass that you need to be the leader of the greatest nation in the world. And sadly, Mr. Ramaswamy is not alone in lacking the [moral] compass. I think that was displayed pretty patently by many of the GOP candidates on the debate stage.”
- Does Sen. Kaine believe that Trump is disqualified under the 14th amendment, section 3, Kaine said: “I discussed this with colleagues at the time of the second impeachment…I thought actually it might have been a more productive way to go than the second impeachment, to do a declaration under that section of the 14th amendment. The language is specific – if you give aid and comfort to those who engage in an insurrection against the *constitution* of the United States – it doesn’t say against the United States, it says against the constitution. In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment, and that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as is laid out in the constitution. So I think there’s a powerful argument to be made. My sense is it’s probably going to get resolved in the courts. But I think what we focus on on our side is we just gotta win in 2024. We’ve got to make sure we have a great election in Virginia in 2023 – our state legislature is up, all 140, that will impact my state dramatically; the president and the DNC are investing heavily in Virginia, which is great, and that will then send a message about 2024. So I’ll let the lawyers worry about the 14th amendment; my colleagues and I, our focus is on winning.”
- To get President Biden reelected, Sen. Tim Kaine says Democrats have to do “something that we don’t do so well—which is go out and sell – sell the accomplishments, sell the infrastructure project, sell the growth in manufacturing jobs – and if we do that, I think that Joe Biden is going to get reelected.” Sen. Kaine also notes that we’re coming out of “an unprecedented time” with COVID, calling it “unparalleled in my life,” and argues “we’re still climbing a ladder out of a very dark chapter” – a ladder that President Biden is building.
- Sen. Kaine: “On our side, you’re going to see an accomplishment momentum building and building and building…And on the other side, you’re going to be reading what is the latest news about Donald Trump’s criminal trials.”
“If you’re unwilling to say that the behavior of Donald Trump trying to overturn the peaceful transfer of power is a disqualifier…It shows that you don’t have the moral compass that you need,” Sen. Tim Kaine says of GOP presidential candidates. https://t.co/ZWts634PIQ pic.twitter.com/kQF9E42Fhm
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 3, 2023
While there’s a “powerful argument to be made” that former Pres. Trump is disqualified from running again under the 14th Amendment, Sen. Tim Kaine predicts that the issue while be “resolved in the courts.” https://t.co/gLfhOlFr03 pic.twitter.com/KvpDBqrSAB
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 3, 2023
To get Pres. Biden reelected, Sen. Tim Kaine says Democrats have to do “something that we don’t do so well—which is go out and sell.”
“Sell the accomplishments. Sell the infrastructure project. Sell the growth in manufacturing jobs.” https://t.co/jFxCNjybbd pic.twitter.com/84UAEAx7Xv
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 3, 2023
“On our side, you’re going to see an accomplishment momentum building and building and building,” Sen. Tim Kaine tells @GStephanopoulos.
“And on the other side, you’re going to be reading what is the latest news about Donald Trump’s criminal trials.” https://t.co/zVfajWrbpV pic.twitter.com/z5ljT0P1wk
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 3, 2023