RNC official attacks Kaine for defending ‘rapists and murderers’

A Republican National Committee (RNC) official on Tuesday attacked Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine for defending “rapists and murderers” as a defense attorney.

“This all goes back to Tim Kaine’s record,” Sean Spicer said in an interview with CNN’s “New Day.” “I mean, there are rapists and murderers that he defended to keep out of prison that have done horrible things.”

{mosads}Spicer was responding to questions about the RNC’s new ad, titled “America Deserves Better,” which slams Kaine for his work defending violent criminals as a criminal defense attorney. 

The ad has drawn comparisons to the “Willie Horton” ad put out by former President George H.W. Bush during the 1988 presidential race. That ad hit Bush’s opponent, Democrat Michael Dukakis, for the crimes committed when Horton — a black man serving a life sentence for murder — took part in a weekend furlough program. 

Spicer pushed back against the comparison by noting that most of the defendants depicted in the new RNC ad were white.

“You know, it’s amazing how quick everyone runs to Tim Kaine’s defense,” Spicer said. “The fact of the matter is that his record should be looked at in its totality. He went out and defended people who committed heinous crimes, and he sought to get the lowest penalty for them.

“That’s fine, he chose to do that, but he should be judged for it as well.”

Spicer, who has admitted to having policy differences with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, once said that his role campaigning for Trump is similar to a lawyer who “defends bad people.”

“There are doctors who help people who have done bad things; there are lawyers who defend bad people,” Spicer told The Washington Post in August. “I don’t think it’s unique to my profession.”