Interview with Tim Kaine, former teammate from Hillary Clinton | The American senator defending Canada

(Washington) It’s been ten minutes that I had to know with the senator from Virginie Tim Kaine, in his large office of the Capitol, when the latter removes the pin he has on his jacket.

We see an Amazon warrior, throws and swords in hand, who stands on a bewildered king. In Latin, the motto of the southern state promises the same fate to all tyrants.

“It is the only motto of a state that is a warning rather than a celebration. It was adopted the day after the United States Declaration of Independence. Those who chose it did not see tyranny as a thing of the past, but rather as a constant in the human condition. And I think President Trump has this tyranny instinct. It makes him say, “I’m going to do things my way, get around the congress, disobey the courts.” The only ones can stop it are institutions like the Senate and voters, “said the elected official.

Former Governor of Virginia, senator since 2013 and Hillary Clinton running mate during the White House race that they lost to Donald Trump in 2016, Tim Kaine has a long experience in politics, but he admits to having been somewhat disrected, just like his democratic colleagues, by the return to power of the populist.

He himself has one of the most beautiful political rebuffs against the Trump 2.0 administration. And it concerns Canada. On April 10, Tim Kaine managed to rally all Democratic senators and three Republican senators to adopt a resolution that meant to the President that he could not invoke the fentanyl crisis and his emergency powers to unjustly impose customs duties in Canada.

The tenant of the White House rejected the Senate’s decision, but did not go ahead with the worst customs duties.

“I did it for several reasons. When we hear the president talking about Canada as 51^e State, we say that it will not happen, that it is ridiculous and silly, but if we say nothing, what do people hear in Canada? They will say that there is no answer. And there is a real danger that Canadians wrongly interpret that there is general antipathy towards them in the United States, “he said.

“I assure you that this is not what voters of Virginia think. This is not what American voters think and that’s not what Congress thinks. No one thinks that Canada is an opponent, “he adds a little later. A survey made public Thursday proves him right.

In this context, what advice does it have to offer to Mark Carney who will go to the White House on Tuesday to meet Donald Trump? “Stay strong and proud!” “, He said. And find areas where it is possible to collaborate with the President, for example for the construction of galaes for the Arctic like the one who must be built in Lévis and Helsinki. Or, asserting that Canada is an essential ally to counter the theft of intellectual property by China, the main rival in the United States in the eyes of the president.

And the elected democrats, who are accused of sleeping gas by part of the American population, what do they plan to limit the autocratic trends of Donald Trump who signed 141 decrees during his first 100 days in power and barely ratified five bills adopted by the Congress? “There is a five -level strategy. Congress, courts, states, elections and activism, ”says Tim Kaine.

The Democrats, he recalls, launched legal proceedings from the first day of the Trump administration. They have their eyes on the upcoming elections, including that to designate a new governor of Virginia – his old post – next fall. “In Congress, we learn to use the levers at our disposal as a minority, like the speech [de protestation] 25 hours of my colleague Cory Booker, ”he gives as an example.

In his case, he uses the questions of privilege of the Senate to “challenge the encroachment of the executive branch on matters of war, transfer of arms, declaration of power and human rights powers”.

The activism of the Democrats, he marries the features of Senator Bernie Sanders and the representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who crisscross the country to denounce the oligarchy of billionaires.

Is it enough to deal with the compressor roller that is the White House since January? “We don’t win everything, but we start to have success, especially in court,” he notes.

Democrats can also count on Donald Trump’s self -abutment. “Economic chaos [qu’il a causé]the slowdown growth, inflation, cuts in programs that are important for people, that’s what is the most salient for voters, “says Tim Kaine. And in his country, money is often a very effective spear or sword to dethrone the rulers.