Trump confuses Clinton's running mate with former New Jersey governor

Donald Trump mixed up Hillary Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, with the former governor of New Jersey during a news conference on Wednesday.

"Her running mate Tim Kaine, who by the way did a terrible job in New Jersey -- first act he did in New Jersey was ask for a $4 billion tax increase and he was not very popular in New Jersey and he still isn't," Trump said.


Corrected by reporters, who suggested he might be confusing Kaine with Thomas Kean, a Republican who governed New Jersey from 1982 to 1990, Trump clarified.

"What? I mean Virginia."

The New Jersey tax increase that Trump may or may not been talking about came not under Kean, a Republican, but his successor Jim Florio, a Democrat. The 1990 package was so unpopular that New Jersey Democrats were swamped in the next election cycle, and Florio subsequently lost his reelection bid.

According to PolitiFact, Kaine, who was governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, did indeed propose $4 billion in tax increases, though not all at once.

According to online surveys by Morning Consult, Kaine has the approval of 52 percent of Virginia voters, versus 24 percent who disapprove. As governor, his aggregated net approval rating began high but steadily narrowed, ending slightly positive by the time he left office.

Polling on Kaine's popularity in New Jersey, however, is hard to come by.

Kean, on the other hand, is regarded as the most popular governor in modern state history. The Rutgers Eagleton Poll recorded Kean’s approval rating in October 1985 at an “unprecedented” 79 percent. All but three of the state’s 567 municipalities voted to reelect him to a second term. No governor since has commanded that level of support.

Republicans — and even some Democrats — evoke Kean’s name with the same sort of reverence bestowed on Ronald Reagan. Gov. Chris Christie, who is serving as Trump’s transition chief, has called Kean a political mentor, though their relationship has since cooled.

Trump himself had a relationship with Kean, who served as governor when the billionaire was a casino owner in Atlantic City. Kean told NPR-affiliate WNYC in June that he once got a call from Trump on a morning in the mid-1980s, and figured the mogul wanted something from him.

“Donald, I'm very, very busy. What can I do for you?” Kean asked.

“Really nothing,” Trump said. “It's just a beautiful day today and I wanted to tell you you're the best governor in the country.”

