WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump ripped Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) on Monday for stating last week that the concept that rights are given by a creator – a foundational American belief – is “extremely troubling.”
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last Wednesday, Kaine called comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suggesting rights are God-given, “very troubling.”
“The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the creator–that’s what the Iranian government believes,” Kaine said.
“The statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling,” he added.
Trump addressed Kaine’s comments, which are antithetical to the Declaration of Independence, on Monday during his remarks at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC.
“Under the Trump administration, we’re defending our rights and restoring our identity as a nation under God. We are one nation under God, and we always will be,” Trump said, adding that Kaine’s remarks underscore the need for this:
But as everyone in this room understands, it is tyrants who are denying our rights and the rights that come from God, and it’s this Declaration of Independence that proclaims we’re endowed by our creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The senator from Virginia should be ashamed of himself, for many things, for things even beyond that.
Trump further vowed to protect the Judeo-Christian values as the bedrock of the nation.
“As president, I will always defend our nation’s glorious heritage, and we will protect the Judeo-Christian principles of our founding and we will protect them with vigor,” he said.
“We have to bring back religion in America, bring it back stronger than ever before as our country grows stronger and stronger,” he added.
