John Matthews
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Virginia Senator Tim Kaine sat down Thursday for his first local interview since the election, and says that while’s he’s disappointed with the outcome, he’s relieved to have the antidote of jumping right back to work in the Senate.
Kaine told Fox 5 News that his goal in the new Congress will be to look for programs that he can work with Republicans on.
“Every presidential election means that afterwards, we’ve gotta come together, but this one maybe more than most,” said Kaine. “The most important thing we can do in whatever role we play is to go right back to work and find areas of common cause.”
Kaine says he’s relieved that most of his work is done sitting on committees that are largely bi-partisan, including the Senate Armed Services, Foreign Relations and Aging committees.
Kaine also discussed the effort launched last week by Green Party nominee Jill Stein to have recounts conducted in three states.
“The Clinton team looked at the votes and looked at the recount, and were not going to pursue it,” he said. “[But] iof there’s going to be a recount, we have to be at the table to make sure it’s done right.”
Kaine says it’s “highly doubtful” the outcome of the election will be changed, but it’s important to see the process through so voters can trust it.
“You have the intelligence agencies of the United States saying that the government of Russia was trying to influence the outcome of the election, especially hacking into a couple of state boards of elections. So if there’s questions about some influence, it’s important to put those to bed,” Kaine said.
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Fox 5 News)
