Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Says Virginians Are NOT Talking to Him About What Joe Biden Should Have Done in 2024, They “are talking to me about can you get rid of the Trump economic chaos,” etc.

This morning on Fox News Sunday (I know, I know…why do Democrats go on right-wing-propaganda media?), Sen. Tim Kaine covered several topics: 1) Trump’s trip to the Middle East (“the good, the bad and the incomplete”, including the Israel-Gaza war; 2) negotations with Iran over its nuclear program; 3) the Russia-Ukraine war and the Trump administration’s efforts to reach a deal; 4) the new book by “journalists” Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson – which hopefully nobody will buy – about Joe Biden. Here are highlights and video:

1. On Trump’s Middle East trip: “I’ll go the good the bad and the incomplete. So there is good – I do think opening this new chapter with the Syrian leadership is a positive; I would have suspended sanctions for 90 days rather than lifting them, to make sure there was good behavior, but I think that’s a positive. Houthis are not firing at US ships in the Red Sea, that’s a positive. The discussions with Iran about restoring the nuclear deal that Donald Trump foolishly tore up in term one, that’s a positive. This hostage release is a positive. On the bad side, you have glaring glaring corruption issues raising again and again and again with the Qataris’ offer of a plane to Donald Trump, frankly in his private capacity. Crypto deals, real estate deals benefiting Donald Trump’s family, that is a horrible thing. And I urge, especially the Qataris, turn around before you stain your reputation with the United States in a way that you won’t be able to recover from. And then the incomplete is we’ve got to get back to the ceasefire and hostage release mode we were in when Donald Trump became president. And I know they’re working very hard on it, and the release of this one American hostage was a positive. But I really worry that the IDF escalation of attacks in Gaza is going to push out ceasefire and hostage release farther and farther out into the future. Nearly two thirds of Israelis don’t believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing enough to prioritize hostage release and ceasefire. The US should be leaning in heavier to try to help get us to that day.”
2. On negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program: “I think the issue that’s the that’s still the stumbling block, if you watch what happened last week, the stumbling block is whether Iran can have a civilian nuclear program but strict limits to stop them from having any military use. So could they enrich for civilian purposes as long as that enrichment is limited to a level that couldn’t be used for military? And you’ve heard Vice President Vance and even President Trump suggested that some level of civilian enrichment might be acceptable. You have Senate Republicans pushing back on that idea. So I think that’s probably the tough issue right now – that’s that’s my intuition, not my intelligence…The fact that the dialogue is ongoing is good. Dialogue guarantees nothing, but the absence of dialogue almost always guarantees something bad. And so let’s keep the dialogue going and see where we can get. You’ll hear tough talk from both sides until there is a deal, if there is a deal, that’s to be understood. But the dialogue is ongoing and that’s positive.”
3. On negotations over the Russia-Ukraine war (aka, Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine): “We shouldn’t accept a bad deal. We should disengage rather than accept a bad deal and foist it off on the Ukrainians and all of Europe. You know, look, I have spent a lot of time in the last two months with key European allies – Ukraine, Poland, Germany and Finland. They all agree Putin is in bad faith. They do not believe Putin will enter into a ceasefire on terms that are acceptable to anyone. But they are praising us for trying. You know, if you don’t try, you know it’s not going to work out. The key will be an agreement that the Ukrainians who are the victims – they were not the aggressors, Vladimir Putin illegally invaded a sovereign nation for no legitimate reason, is committing war crimes every day, I was in Ukraine the day after the Palm Sunday bombing in Sumi a couple weeks ago. The key will be are there terms that the Ukrainians feel are acceptable and also that European nations feel are acceptable…the reason that’s important is European nations know that they will be needed to provide security in a post-ceasefire environment. And so you can’t cut a deal that they don’t approve of or they’re not part of and then tell them that they have to provide security guarantees. They need to also look at this as a positive deal. The Europeans are extremely skeptical about Vladimir Putin. But we got to keep trying and then let the Ukrainians and Europeans in the room essentially with us to decide whether a deal, if it comes to pass, is a good one or not.”
4. This idiocy about Joe Biden, when there are literally a milion much more important stories right now, is a great example of why Democrats should avoid right-wing media. Good answer by Sen. Kaine, though: “What I knew…is the Joe Biden I saw at the State of the Union in 2024 was very very strong. Obviously, the Joe Biden at the debate in later June was not strong. And I told Virginians at that moment, look, if Joe Biden is not able to do this job, he’s going to tell us and he’s going to withdraw. If he stays in the race, it’s because he knows he can do this job. And he made the very difficult decision to withdraw. I mean, I think you and I know, we’ve dealt with with aging relatives, it’s hard to convince somebody to give up their car keys. Joe Biden made the decision to give up the office of the presidency, the most powerful office in the world. And you know, you can go back and try to rethink what should have happened in 2024, but my Virginians are talking to me about can you get rid of the Trump economic chaos, can you lift tariffs, can you protect Medicaid and Social Security; they’re not asking me to rethink what President Biden or his team did in 2024.”