Transcript: Hillary Clinton announces Tim Kaine as VP pick

During law school, when his fellow classmates were taking internships at prestigious law firms, he took time off to work with missionaries in Honduras. And after he graduated from Harvard Law School, he could have done anything, but instead he chose to become a civil rights lawyer. One of his first cases was a pro bono case representing a woman who was denied an apartment because she was African American. So while Tim was taking on housing discrimination and homelessness, Donald Trump was denying apartments to people who were African American.

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He is still fighting those battles today, serving as a non-partisan city council member, and then the mayor of Richmond, Virginia.  He worked hard to bridge racial divides.  He built the first new schools in a generation.  He helped turn that struggling city around.  And as governor of Virginia, he led the commonwealth through the worst financial crisis in a generation.  What did he do?  He brought Democrats and Republicans together to protect the programs that working families count on. And while Mike Pence slashed education funding in Indiana –and gave more tax cuts to the wealthiest– Tim Kaine cut his own salary and invested in education from pre-K through college and beyond. And by the time Tim left office, 40 percent more of Virginia’s kids were enrolled in early education programs. And then as a United States senator, Tim has used his positions on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees to stand up for our veterans and our values and our men and women in uniform and our security. Now, there’s no doubt in my mind – because I’m here with him– that Tim is so qualified to be vice president, and as I have said many times, the most important qualification when you are trying to make this really big choice is can this person step in to be president.  Well, at every stage of Tim’s career, the people who know him best have voted to give him a promotion. And that’s because he fights for the people he represents, and he delivers real results.

Now, I can’t wait for all of you to get to know him the way that I have, the proud father of three grown-up kids –who have their own lives and are making their own contributions, including serving our country – a loving husband of a brilliant wife –, who is a great fighter for progressive causes in her own right; the leader who cares more about making a difference than making headlines – and make no mistake – behind that smile, Tim also has a backbone of steel.  Just ask the NRA.