Kaine blames 'misogyny' and 'double standards' for Clinton's 2016 loss, sees similar treatment for Harris

close

Video

Sen. Tim Kaine on comparisons between 2016 and 2020 races for the White House

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, former Democratic vice presidential nominee, joins Bill Hemmer with insight on 'Bill Hemmer Reports.'

"Misogyny" and "double standards" were a "major reason" Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump four years ago, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Friday before claiming that presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee Kama Harris is facing similar issues this time around.

"The worst thing about the campaign was being on a ticket and seeing just the misogyny and double standard applied to the first woman nominee," Kaine, Clinton's running mate in 2016, told host Bill Hemmer. "The 'lock her up' chants or double standards that are applied ... I don't think you would see people chanting 'lock her up' had she been a man."

"I just think that there were a whole set of both just outrageous slurs cast her way and double standards applied to her," Kaine added. "And, you know, women that I know have gotten used to double standards, being judged on their appearance ... [or] about whether they're likable, when that's not raised about men."

Video

Kaine told Hemmer that "I see some of that now starting up with Kamala Harris, too, with the president raising a question about whether she's a U.S. citizen because her parents were immigrants."

On Thursday, President Trump did not reject a conspiracy theory Thursday that Harris, a U.S. citizen born in California, is ineligible to serve as vice president because her parents were born outside the United States.

TRUMP SLAMMED FOR NOT REJECTING CONSPIRACY THEORY HARRIS IS INELIGIBLE FOR VICE PRESIDENCY

However, Chapman University law professor John C. Eastman wrote a piece for Newsweek questioning whether Harris is a “natural-born citizen” because her mother was born in India and her father was born in Jamaica.

During the Thursday press briefing, Trump appeared to fuel the argument by touting the author’s credentials, saying, “And by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer.”

"Kamala Harris, people said, is she too ambitious? Who's ever said about a male politician that their ambition was something that should be held against them?" Kaine said. "So these are double standards. Some of them are hateful and some of her very subtle and and subconscious."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

The senator added the U.S. had a "bad track record" when it came to electing women.

"The United States is good at so many things, including ... an awful lot of things about women, but we have a bad track record of electing women to higher office," he sadi. "In Congress, for example, our Congress is 76th in the world with 24 percent women. We're tied with Afghanistan, but we're behind Iraq. We're behind Canada. We [have] about half [the percentage] of Mexico. So I think this is going to be an excellent opportunity to finally break a glass ceiling that I hoped we would break four years ago."

Fox News' Alex Pappas and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.