Julián Castro: Kaine is right choice for Hispanics
PHILADELPHIA — Julián Castro isn’t worried about the lack of diversity on the Democratic ticket because he believes “Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are both champions on the biggest issues that [Latinos] care about.”
Castro was on Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential shortlist, and the fact he was passed over upset those who wanted the Housing and Urban Development secretary or another minority on the ticket.
But in an interview with USA TODAY, Castro — who broke onto the political scene with a speech at the 2012 convention — said Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine is the right choice. Hispanics and other minorities will get behind him, Castro said.
“Tim Kaine is an excellent choice and he showed that last night. He’s well prepared,” Castro said. “And maybe most importantly he has this broad inclusive vision of America just like Hillary does, and he understands the challenges of some of our most vulnerable communities. And he’s been working on those issues for a long time.”
“Of course it’s a concern that Donald Trump has been able to get this far with the Republican party being so anti-immigrant, and also anti-Latino," he said.
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But he added he thinks “there’s enough level-headed voters” who will vote for Clinton and Kaine.
Castro and his twin brother Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-Texas, both young, charismatic and Hispanic, have star power within the Democratic party. The congressman will be speaking Thursday night at the convention.
In an interview with CBS News earlier this week, Rep. Castro said he was considering a run against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. By that afternoon Cruz had fired off a fundraising email with the subject line "The Castro brothers,” according to Politico.
Could his brother win?
“I believe that if he ran against Ted Cruz that he could win because Texans have realized that Ted Cruz is basically in the United States Senate to represent himself and to run for president, not to represent Texans. He hasn’t spent a nickel's worth of time actually thinking about the people of Texas,” Julián Castro said. “Ted Cruz has only lifted a finger for his own career.”