--- title: DNC: Read Tim Kaine's Speech at the Democratic Convention description: On Wednesday night, Tim Kaine accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president at the Philadelphia convention. canonical: https://time.com/4426037/dnc-tim-kaine-speech-transcript-video/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-28T02:44:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T12:34:48.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Tim Kaine's Speech at the Democratic Convention og:description: "Most people, when they run for president, they don’t just say ‘believe me.'" og:url: https://time.com/4426037/dnc-tim-kaine-speech-transcript-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1569e616389b9ce/69889f03bc6cfc29853ddf13/tim-kaine1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5064 og:image:height: 2849 og:image:alt: Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Tim Kaine's Speech at the Democratic Convention twitter:description: "Most people, when they run for president, they don’t just say ‘believe me.'" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1569e616389b9ce/69889f03bc6cfc29853ddf13/tim-kaine1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Tim Kaine's Speech at the Democratic Convention > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7928a71f-1dcf-47b8-a684-b1f560d1242f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Tim Kaine’s Speech at the Democratic Convention [Watch (HLS stream): Tim Kaine’s Speech at the Democratic Convention](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/x0jXrhwK.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2016-07-28. Tim Kaine made his solo national debut as Hillary Clinton’s running mate at the Democratic national convention Wednesday, sharing his life story and sharpening his attacks on Donald Trump._ by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:34 PM UTCPublished: Jul 28, 2016 2:44 AM UTC by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:34 PM UTCPublished: Jul 28, 2016 2:44 AM UTC Tim Kaine made his solo national debut as Hillary Clinton’s running mate at the Democratic national convention Wednesday, sharing his life story and sharpening his attacks on Donald Trump. The Virginia Senator argued that Trump has not spelled out his plans, unlike Clinton, who has detailed proposals on her campaign website. “Here’s the thing. Most people, when they run for president, they don’t just say ‘believe me,’” Kaine said, mimicking Trump. “They respect you enough to tell you how they will get things done.” “Not Donald Trump,” he added. “He never tells you how he’s going to do any of the things he says he’s going to do. He just says, ‘believe me.’ So here’s the question. Do you really believe him? Donald Trump’s whole career says you better not.” **Read More:** [_How Tim Kaine’s Record On Guns Helps With Women Voters_](http://time.com/4420619/tim-kaine-guns-women-voters/) Read his remarks as prepared for delivery: --- > “” --- ## Transcript I humbly accept my party's nomination to be Vice- President of the United States. I took a year off from law school to volunteer with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. I taught kids how to be welders and carpenters. [ APPLAUSE ] [ FOREIGN ] [ NOISE ] I worked on the budget committee with our great democratic leader of that committee. A spectacular Senator who used to be a Mayor of her months Bernie Sanders. [ NOISE ] Everybody we all should feel the burn And we all should not wanna get burned by the other guy. [ APPLAUSE ] Trump is a guy who promises a lot. It's gonna be great. Believe me. [ LAUGH ] We're gonna build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, believe me. We're gonna destroy ISIS so fast, believe me. There's nothing suspicious in my tax returns, believe me. [ APPLAUSE ] So do you believe him? No. I don't know, how about on this side. Do you guys believe him? No. I mean, do you guys believe him? No. Is there anyone in this building who believes him? [ SOUND ] Listo, listo, because what listo means in Spanish is this. It means prepared. It means battle tested. It means rock solid, up for anything, never backing down, and friends, Hillary Clinton, she's lista. Hillary Clinton is lista. Bill built a bridge into the 21st century and Barack gave us hope and now Hillary is ready. She's ready to fight. She's ready to win and she is ready to lead. God bless all of you. On to victory and thank you Philadelphia. 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