Kaine insisted the party focus on the economy
CNN host presses Democratic lawmaker on why party is 'so staggeringly unpopular'
CNN host Jake Tapper pressed Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine on Sunday about why the Democratic Party was so "staggeringly unpopular."
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was pressed on Sunday on why his party was "so unpopular" during an interview on CNN's "State of the Union."
"Why is your party so staggeringly unpopular with the public?" CNN host Jake Tapper asked.
The CNN host noted the results of a Quinnipiac Poll that found just 31% of Americans view the Democratic Party favorably, and 57% have an unfavorable view of the party.
"Jake, you know me. I’m a Virginian. I know one state well and not so well the other 49. In Virginia, we’ve gone from one of the most ruby red states in the country to now having put electoral votes behind Democrats five elections in a row. I just won my reelection by a sizable margin against Donald Trump‘s hand-picked Republican opponent. And I’ll tell you how we’ve done it. We focus on the economy. This is what we do in Virginia. And I think sometimes national Democrats don’t," Kaine responded.
CNN's Jake Tapper pressed Sen. Tim Kaine on Sunday about why his party is so unpopular. (Screenshot/CNN)
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"On the Democratic side in Virginia, and I think we can do this nationally. We talk about make, build, grow. We want to make it here. We want to build it here. And in Ag[riculture]. And forestry, we want to grow it here. And the Dems have the results to back it up. It‘s just that so often Democratic candidates don‘t emphasize that. And so yeah, the American public looks at standard campaigns. They don‘t see Democrats advertising on the economy, which is their principal concern, and so they have wonders about us," Kaine added.
Kaine said the party needed to return to the "bread and butter basics."
Tapper pushed back on Kaine and noted the state had a Republican governor, Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
"I don’t want to get too in the weeds of Virginia politics, but your governor is a Republican, and he beat handily a former Democratic governor when he ran for that position," Tapper said.
Sen. Kaine said in an interview that the Democratic Party needs to return to the "bread and butter basics." (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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"By 1.8%" Kaine responded. "The last two Republicans that won the governorship in Virginia won by comfortable double digits. Our governor is a Republican. He ran during a very good year to be a Republican, and he won, barely."
The Virginia senator also expressed hope for the state's gubernatorial election this year and said the Democrats had a good chance.
"I think the governor’s race in Virginia, November 2025, will be the first bellwether test of a Democratic comeback. And I’m feeling really, really good about that right now," he added.
Kaine has criticized several of President Donald Trump's early executive actions, including offering federal employees buyout offers, which is part of a larger effort to get federal employees to return to the office.
The Democratic senator has argued that Trump would "stiff" employees who accept the buyout offers.
"He doesn’t have any authority to do this. Do not be fooled by this guy," the Virginia Democrat said.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
