Hillary Clinton, now the official Democratic presidential nominee, announced her long rumored pick for vice president last week as Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. Since then, the pair made their first public appearance together in Miami, and now Kaine is speaking at the Democratic National Convention.
In response to being chosen as Clinton’s vice president Kaine tweeted that he was "honored."
"I'm feeling a lot of things today, most of all gratitude. I'm grateful to you Hillary for the trust that you've placed in me and we're going to me compañeros del alma (soul mates) in this great lucha (fight) ahead," Kaine, a fluent spanish speaker, said Saturday at a Miami rally.
At the rally, Clinton praised Kaine to for his record of fighting house housing discrimination as a young lawyer and for his strong stance on ending gun violence. Kaine brought up the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, which happened when he was governor, at the rally to discuss how he and Clinton would push for gun control.
Gun control is one of the biggest issues in light of recent shootings, including the shooting of Baton Rouge police officers and the Orlando Pulse gay nightclub.
Kaine's speech at the convention delved into his background as the son of a father who "ran a union ironworking shop" and a mother who "was his best salesman." He also discussed his year as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras.
"I got a first-hand look at a system—a dictatorship—where a few people at the top had all the power and everyone else got left out," Kaine recalled of his time in Central America. "It convinced me that we've got to advance opportunity for everyone. No matter where they come from, how much money they have, what they look like, how they worship, or who they love."
Kaine continued, discussing his work as a civil rights lawyer and his move into electoral politics, all the way to his current position as a Senator. He revealed a little secret that he learned during his time in Washington.
"I spend time with a lot of Republican Senators who, once they've made sure nobody's listening, will tell you how fantastic a Senator Hillary Clinton was," he revealed.
Kaine also took some digs at Donald Trump, criticizing the GOP candidate's long record of stiffing or underpaying contractors on his construction jobs.
"Small contractors—companies just like my dad's—believed him when he said that he'd pay them to build a casino in Atlantic City," he said. "They did the work, hung the drywall, poured the concrete. But a year after opening, Trump filed for bankruptcy. He walked away with millions. They got pennies on the dollar. Some of them went out of business. All because they believed Donald Trump."
Kaine ended his speech by bringing up the accomplishments of great American leaders of the past, from Thomas Jefferson all the way to Barack Obama, while adding Hillary Clinton to that lineage.
"Thomas declared all men were equal, and Abigail remembered the women," he said in closing. "Woodrow brokered peace, and Eleanor broke down barriers. Jack told us what to ask, and Lyndon answered the call. Martin had a dream, Cesar y Dolores said si se puede, and Harvey gave his life. Bill built a bridge into the century, and Barack gave us hope.
"And now, Hillary is ready. She's ready to fight, she's ready to win, and she is ready to lead. God bless you, on to victory, and thank you Philadelphia."
DNC day three speakers also included President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
