From the transcript of Sen. Tim Kaine’s interview this morning with Face The Nation host Margaret Brennan:
BRENNAN: You mentioned Mike Pompeo. The CIA director was before your committee this week testifying as he sort of auditions for this role of secretary of state. You voted for him as CIA director. Will you vote for him to be the next secretary of state?
KAINE: Margaret, I’ve decided to vote against him to be secretary of state. I did vote for him as CIA director. He has an intel background that I thought suited him for the position. But look, we have a president who is anti-diplomacy. And I worry that Mike Pompeo has shown the same tendency to oppose diplomacy. He was not just against the Iran deal when he was a House member, but he spoke about the relative ease of wiping out Iran’s nuclear capacity with a bombing run. He has supported regime change–
BRENNAN: Well, Senator, that’s significant you are saying that you’re not going to vote for him because this would mean he’s the first nominee to be secretary of state to not get a favorable recommendation by that committee. But this still doesn’t stop him from becoming America’s top diplomat.
KAINE: Well, you’re right.
BRENNAN: He can still get confirmed.
KAINE: We’re- we’re going to have a floor vote and I’m telling you what my vote is. I don’t want a secretary of state who is going to exacerbate the President Trump’s tendencies to oppose diplomacy. You’ve seen President Trump try to underfund the State Department and USAID, not appoint key ambassadors, tweet out insults about foreign leaders, back the United States out of international agreements and organizations. We do not need a secretary of state who’s going to exaggerate those tendencies. We need a secretary of state who is going to stand up for strong diplomacy. I don’t believe that’s Director Pompeo’s inclination.
Tim Kaine, one of just two Senate foreign relations Dems to back Pompeo for CIA Director, says he’ll oppose Pompeo nomination for SecState.
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) April 15, 2018
.@timkaine announces he will vote against Pompeo for SecState says he believes he would exacerbate Trump weaknesses rather than uphold diplomatic legacy. On divided committee if GOP Sen Rand Paul remains opposed Pompeo may win on the floor but not with Foreign Relations support
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) April 15, 2018
Now more than ever, we need a Secretary of State who will stand strong for vigorous diplomacy, not exacerbate President Trump’s proclivity towards conflict. Unfortunately, Mike Pompeo has often demonstrated a similar disposition against diplomacy, so I will oppose his nomination.
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) April 15, 2018
Sen. @timkaine on his past criticism of @Comey: Clear double standard of how FBI and James Comey handled investigations during the 2016 campaign. Comey is a good man who made a very consequential blunder. The blunder that he made had a huge consequence.
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 15, 2018