In a hilarious show of cluelessness, Democratic Virginia Senator Tim Kaine denied the existence of God-given rights, the primary principle in the Declaration of Independence, during a Senate Foreign Relations nomination hearing on Wednesday.
“The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator, that’s what the Iranian government believes,” Kaine said while attacking Trump’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Riley Barnes.
The opening words of the Declaration of Independence, however, state that the separation of America from Britain is justified by the notion that we as humans have God-given, unalienable rights and that a new government founded on these principles is necessary.
From the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
This is the founding principle that the entire Constitution is based on, creating a government that derives its authority from the people, not the government.
But Kaine says this is an Iranian belief, and because they don’t believe life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are God-given, the notion of God-given rights in the United States is “extremely troubling.”
Instead, like all Democrats, Kaine believes that basic human rights can only come from the government.
WATCH:
Kaine: The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator, that’s what the Iranian government believes. It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia law and targets Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities. And they do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their Creator. So the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.
Democrat Senator Tim Kaine: “The notion that rights don’t come from laws or the government, but come from the Creator – that’s what the Iranian government believes. The statement that our rights do not come from laws or government is extremely troubling.” pic.twitter.com/mHbph0GpHW
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 4, 2025
Senator Ted Cruz responds:
(Read more: The Gateway Pundit, 9/4/2025) (Archive)
(Timeline editor’s note: [Kaine] entered Harvard Law School in 1979, interrupting his law studies after his first year to work in Honduras[10][11][a] for nine months from 1980 to 1981, helping Jesuit missionaries who ran a Catholic school in El Progreso.[7][14] – Wikipedia)