Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the Dirksen Senate Office Building July 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
"The secretary went on to say that we will always be strong defenders of that principle, and that’s why the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor is important," he said. "We are a nation of individuals, each made in the image of God and possessing an inherent dignity. This is a truth that our founders understood as essential to American self-government."
But Kaine, who is a Catholic, found Barnes’ sentiment "troubling."
"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," Kaine said. "It's a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia law and targets Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities.
"And they do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their Creator," he continued. "So, the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling."
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Bishop Robert Barron, a popular Catholic commentator and author, reacted to the death of Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome. (Fox News Digital)
Kaine’s sentiment drew heat from Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota, who panned his remarks in a post on X Thursday. Barron argued that the lawmaker was "actively contesting the view that our rights come from God and not from the government."
"If the government creates our rights, it can take them away," Barron said. "If the government is responsible for our rights, well then it can change them."
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"It just strikes me as extraordinary that a major American politician wouldn’t understand this really elemental part of our system. God help us. I mean that literally, God help us if we say our rights are coming to us from the government, that gives the government, indeed, godlike power," Barron continued.
Fox News Digital reached out for comment from Kaine's office but did not immediately hear back.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-senator-compares-american-founding-principle-irans-theocracy-extremely-troubling