Kaine Mocks Trump For Confusing Him With a New Jersey Politician

VP candidate said Trump's trying to “learn on the fly” as he runs for president.

By
JESSICA HOPPER
July 28, 2016, 3:38 PM ET
4 min read

— -- Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine mocked Donald Trump for confusing him with a New Jersey politician and said the blunder is proof that Trump is trying to “learn on the fly” as he runs for president.

In an interview with ABC News' David Muir, the Democratic U.S. senator and former governor of Virginia, jabbed at the GOP presidential nominee for his remarks yesterday confusing Kaine with former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, a Republican.

“If you don’t know there’s 50 states and New Jersey and Virginia are different, and you’re trying to run for president and learn that on the fly, Lord help you,” Kaine told Muir in an interview airing today on "World News Tonight."

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Kaine formally accepted the vice presidential nomination in an address to the Democratic National Convention last night. He used part of his speech to mock Trump by doing an impression of the real estate mogul. In his interview with Muir, Kaine continued his assault on Trump and reacted to Trump’s remarks that Russia should find Hillary Clinton’s emails. Trump has since said he was being sarcastic when he made the remarks about Russia.

But Kaine countered Trump's attempted walk-back: “I don’t think that Russia comment was sarcastic,” he said.

“We got Donald Trump saying, ‘Hey, Russia, put your thumb on the scale to help me in an American election. You will not find that in any other presidential campaign that’s been running in this country in our history,” Kaine said.

Kaine, who was described by a Senate colleague this morning as someone who doesn’t trash talk, has nevertheless not shied away from attacking Trump.

In remarks to the Missouri delegation at a Democratic National Convention breakfast this morning, Kaine said he doesn’t view his jabs at Trump as trash talk.

"I don’t mind drawing a contrast, and I don’t mind calling out bad behavior, and I don’t mind calling out foolishness when I see it. I may not call you a name, but I might call what you propose all kinds of names,” Kaine told the Missouri delegation. "I’m going to have an awful lot of fun with Donald Trump between now and Election Day.”

Watch David Muir’s full interview with Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine on World News Tonight at 6:30 EST