Republicans came at Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) hard after he mocked the idea on Wednesday that individual rights come from God, rather than government.
"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 minorities," Kaine said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
"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," he added.
Our rights don’t come from government or the DNC.
They come from God. @timkaine, I suggest the Dems go back and read the words of our Founding Fathers. pic.twitter.com/QRmhTcbbOH
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2025
The comments went viral on social media and drew criticism from Senate colleague Ted Cruz (R-TX) and others who reminded him about what our Founding Fathers said when the country was created.
"If believing rights come from a higher power is 'troubling,' then Kaine’s quarrel isn’t with Ted Cruz. It’s with Jefferson, Madison, the Declaration, and America herself," Cruz wrote on X.
The hearing, which was to vet Riley Barnes, President Donald Trump's nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, saw Barnes agreeing with recent comments by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio stated that the U.S. was founded on the principle "that all men are created equal because our rights come from God, our Creator; not from our laws, not from our governments."
If Kaine thinks the majority of Americans agree with him, he is sadly mistaken.
A Napolitan News poll taken by Scott Rassmussen last June showed that 78% of voters believe individuals have "natural rights" and that the government cannot take them away.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) chimed into the conversation to quote the Declaration of Independence to Kaine.
"Tim Kaine should remember the very state he represents gave us Thomas Jefferson who put it simply when he penned these words in the Declaration of Independence: 'unalienable rights endowed by their creator.' Today’s Democrats want us to be wholly dependent government so they can control us," she wrote on X. "Our rights are GOD-GIVEN, and as your voice in Congress, I will always fight to protect them!"
The problem with Kaine's comments is that he doesn't understand the Christian God followed by the founding fathers at all. Unlike the theocratic regimes he mentioned above, America has never used its faith in a creator as a reason to take people's rights away.
Exactly the opposite--rights granted by God cannot be taken away by a government.
Kaine's lack of understanding of this basic American principle begs the question of how he can even represent Americans in its government at all. It's easy to see why there is such chaos in the government today when its leaders don't even understand its founding or fundamental principles.
