Hillary Clinton views Catholicism “as a plus,” Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said on Sunday.
“I am Catholic,” Kaine noted in an interview on ABC. “I’m very, very serious about my Catholicism, and Hillary views that as an asset. She asked me to be on the ticket with her.
“In terms of what Hillary Clinton, who is running for president, thinks about Catholics and the value more broadly of having a faith background, I can tell you she views it as a plus, just as she views her own Methodism as a plus,” Kaine said.
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Kaine, running with Clinton on the Democratic ticket for the White House, was speaking to the issue of emails surfacing that showed campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri calling Catholicism “the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion.” She added of Catholics, “Their rich friends wouldn’t understand if they became evangelicals.”
The emails were included in more than 12,000 obtained from campaign chairman John Podesta and published by WikiLeaks over the last week.
Kaine said he did not view an apology as necessary. “We all have opinions, and I don’t think you need to apologize for your opinions. In fact, that’s a great thing about our country and even about being Catholic. We have plenty of opinions. So you don’t need to apologize for an opinion, but in terms of respect for the church and people’s faith, Hillary Clinton has that respect because it’s what motivates her.”
