RNC strategist denounces Kaine for defending 'rapists and murderers'

With hours to go before Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Republican National Committee chief strategist and communications director Sean Spicer attacked Tim Kaine for protecting “rapists and murderers” over the course of his legal career and tenure as Virginia governor.

“This just goes back to Tim Kaine's record. I mean, there are rapists and murderers that he defended to keep out of prison that have done horrible things,” Spicer said on CNN’s “New Day” from Longwood University, the host of Tuesday night’s debate. “I think Part of this is Tim Kaine had previously said that someone should be judged by the totality of their record. This is the part of Tim Kaine’s record that they don't want to discuss: His defense of people who went out and murdered and raped people in the commonwealth of Virginia and elsewhere.”


Spicer’s remark came in response to a question from anchor Chris Cuomo, who asked the RNC strategist about a new ad that hammers Kaine for commuting the sentence of a murderer when he was governor of Virginia and seeking to have another extradited to Germany, where he could be paroled sooner. Cuomo countered that in one of those cases, Kaine made such a move because he is a devout Catholic and opposes the death penalty.

Spicer posted and later deleted a link to Roll Call’s coverage of the ad on Monday, tweeting out the article’s headline: “Exclusive: Republicans launch Willie Horton-style attack on Kaine,” a reference to the racially-fraught campaign ads used to attack 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. “First of all, anyone who compares it to Willie Horton either hasn’t seen the ad or doesn’t understand history,” Spicer said Tuesday morning.

“It's about making sure they served the least amount of time possible. That's a big difference,” he added later. “You know, it's amazing how quick everyone runs to Tim Kaine's defense. The fact of the matter is that his record should be looked at in its totality. He went out and defended people who committed heinous crimes, and he sought to get the lowest penalty for them. That's fine. He chose to do that. But he should be judged for it as well. That's part of his record.”

For his part, Kaine has said previously in various news reports that as a Catholic, "life is sacred. That's why I personally oppose the death penalty. But I take my oath of office seriously, and I'll enforce the death penalty … because it's the law."

With Kaine set to square off tonight against Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, Spicer said he expected the Virginia senator to draw attention away from his own history.

"I think Tim Kaine is going to try to do everything he can to distract and distort from the real record. The fact of the matter is what I just mentioned," Spicer said when asked to offer his prediction for Tuesday night's debate. "I mean, look, when Tim Kaine was governor, taxes went up, unemployment went up. When Mike Pence has been governor of Indiana, unemployment’s gone down, taxes have gone down. I think you're going to see a huge contrast in their records and a huge contrast in the tone."