Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is blaming Republican victories in Virginia on Congressional Democrats’ inability to pass an infrastructure bill and social spending package.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Kaine said, “Look, Congressional Dems hurt Terry McAuliffe. I mean, I’m going to be blunt. It’s humbling to say it.”
“But if we had been able to deliver infrastructure reconciliation in mid-October, he could have universal pre-K, affordable child care, infrastructure, creating jobs,” he continued.
He predicted that Democrats would eventually pass the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a separate $1.75 trillion spending package.
However, Kaine said, “Having suffered the loss in Virginia, [and a] really narrow result in New Jersey, now we have a tough narrative that we have to face. So Democrats control both houses, they have to act like it, have to be disciplined, have to get results. And our inability to come together and get a result hurt him.”
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Sen. Tim Kaine: "Look, Congressional Dems hurt Terry McAuliffe. I mean, I'm going to be blunt. It's humbling to say it." https://t.co/Z5dGdGqGls pic.twitter.com/EmA9rtt3HX
— The Hill (@thehill) November 3, 2021
Additionally, he did not solely place blame on either wing on the party, “It’s on progressives who wanted to be too purist, it’s on moderates who wanted to be too purist, on the House who wanted it their way and the Senate who wanted it their way.”
“You got to be able to make a deal and deliver results … They want more results, and we got to deliver because we are the majority, and they expect us to deliver,” he added.
Kaine also claimed some Democrats wanted to deny President Joe Biden a win, “People had a lot of hope for Joe Biden and the Joe Biden agenda, but Democrats didn’t want to give Biden a win.”
Finally, he smacked down the notion the outcome of the Virginia election was a rejection of Democrats’ policies, “No, they would love, absolutely love like pre-K and childcare, are you kidding me that’s exactly what suburban parents are hungry for, especially after a tough pandemic.”
On Tuesday, Glenn Youngkin defeated his Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, and became the first Republican to win a statewide election since 2009, as IJR reported.