US election: Hillary Clinton introduces VP as antithesis of Trump

Hillary Clinton has showed off her freshly picked running mate Tim Kaine, praising him as the antithesis of the Republican presidential ticket led by Donald Trump.

At a rally in Miami, Mrs Clinton reeled off the Virginia senator's career achievements, including his work decades ago as a civil rights lawyer and time spent with missionaries in Central America, to depict him as a man dedicated to social justice.

"Senator Tim Kaine is everything Donald Trump and Mike Pence are not," Mrs Clinton said to a roar of approval from the crowd.

"He is qualified to step into this job and lead on day one," she added, praising his work as governor of the key swing state of Virginia and his record of shepherding it through hard financial times.

Mr Kaine took to the stage afterwards and dazzled the crowd in heavily Latino Miami by immediately rattling off a greeting very good Spanish.

"Bienvenidos a todos," he said, or welcome to everyone, continuing in Spanish: "Welcome to everyone, in our country, because we're all Americans."

In Spanish again, he described he and Mrs Clinton as "soul mates" in the "fight" to defeat Trump in November.

Mr Kaine criticised Mr Trump's recent suggestion he might not honour US security commitments to NATO in Europe, his history of casino bankruptcies and his founding of the failed Trump University.

"When Donald Trump says he has your back, you better watch out," Mr Kaine said, with Mrs Clinton sitting at his side, nodding.

"He leaves a trail of broken promises and wrecked lives wherever he goes. We can't afford to let him do the same thing to our country."

Mr Kaine also spoke about his own childhood in Kansas City, where he helped his father in his metal-working shop, and his Catholic mission to Honduras, where he helped teenagers with carpentry and welding and they taught him Spanish.

He became emotional when he recalled the 2007 shooting deaths of 32 people at Virginia Tech Universityduring his stint as governor, calling it the worst day of his life.

He promised to take on the National Rifle Association (NRA) and fight for "common sense" gun control.

 

Author: 
ABC Australia