Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine recently denied that rights come from God rather than government, and President Donald Trump corrected the record in a speech about religious liberty on Monday.
In a hearing for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, Kaine blasted “the notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator” as an idea that “the Iranian government believes.”
“It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Sharia 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,” the lawmaker said.
“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 Sharia law and targets Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians and other religious… pic.twitter.com/XcrPHbVplp
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) September 4, 2025
“I think the motto over the Supreme Court is ‘equal justice under law’ — the oath that you and I take pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, not arbitrarily defined natural rights,” he continued.
In remarks at the Museum of the Bible to the newly established White House Religious Liberty Commission, Trump spent time debunking the claims from Kaine, who ran against him in 2016 as the vice presidential nominee for Hillary Clinton.
“The ineffectual senator from Virginia, a man named Tim Kaine, stated that the notion our rights come from our Creator is ‘extremely troubling’ to him,” Trump said.
“It’s this Declaration of Independence that proclaims we’re endowed by our creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Trump added.
“The senator from Virginia should be ashamed of himself.”
Trump takes a shot at Democrat Senator Tim Kaine: “The ineffectual senator from Virginia stated that the notion that our rights come from our Creator is extremely troubling. This is advocated by a totalitarian regime. It is tyrants who are denying that our rights come from God.” pic.twitter.com/3h3uVy0RvG
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 8, 2025
Trump also remarked during the speech, “It is the tyrants who are denying our rights and the rights that come from God.”
Kaine had already earned plenty of other backlash from conservatives after denying that our rights fundamentally come from the Most High.
“This is a remarkable moment from Tim Kaine,” Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh wrote on social media.
“He just announced that the core foundational principle of our country, affirmed in the Declaration of Independence, is ‘extremely troubling’ and ‘theocratic.’ He should be immediately removed from office. Anyone who rejects our nation’s foundational principles is obviously not fit to serve.”
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz added, “Our rights don’t come from government or the DNC. They come from God.”
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