US Democrat Kaine lays into 'one-man wrecking crew' Trump

PHILADELPHIA, July 27 (Reuters) - Democratic vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator Tim Kaine laid into Republican candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday, describing the billionaire as "a one-man wrecking crew" who cannot be trusted with America's future.

"Our nation, it is just too great to put it in the hands of a slick-talking, empty-promising, self-promoting, one-man wrecking crew," Kaine said in a keynote speech to the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia.

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Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton chose Kaine of Virginia, as her running mate last week, opting for a partner at the Nov. 8 election who has wide experience in public service to draw a contrast with Trump who has never been elected to office.

Peppering his speech with phrases in Spanish, the bilingual Kaine said he and Clinton were "companeros de alma," or soul mates, and led chants from the crowd of "Si, se puede." ("Yes, we can.")

Kaine said Trump, a businessman and reality TV show host, was fundamentally untrustworthy.

"He never tells you how he's going to do any of the things he says he's going to do. He just says, 'believe me.' So here's the question. Do you really believe him? Donald Trump's whole career says you better not," Kaine said.

He went on to criticize the GOP nominee for refusing to release his tax returns, asking, "Hey Donald, what are you hiding?"

See more of Kaine through the years:

Senior Democrats and former national security figures lined up in Philadelphia on Wednesday to describe Trump as unable to steer America through the dangerous waters of today's world.

The Republican on Wednesday gave his critics fresh fodder for attack with remarks about Russia that the Clinton campaign said posed a possible national security threat.

Grabbing the spotlight at a news conference in Miami, Trump urged Russia to find and release tens of thousands of emails that Clinton did not hand over to U.S. officials as part of a probe into her use of a private email system while she was secretary of state. Clinton has said those emails were private.

In an earlier speech in Philadelphia, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Trump was an opportunist who has no clue about how to make America great or help working families.

Drawing chants of "Not a clue" from the floor of the convention, Biden took Trump to task for his trademark reality TV slogan, "You're fired."

"He's trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That's a bunch of malarkey!" Biden shouted to cheers in the Wells Fargo Center.

Trump has hammered Clinton as untrustworthy and cast America as a place where security threats abound and law and order are breaking down.

He has proposed deeply controversial measures such as temporarily banning Muslims from entering the country and building a wall on the border with Mexico to stop illegal immigrants.

Trump got a boost in opinion polls from his nomination at the Republican convention last week. He had a 2-point lead over Clinton in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday, the firsttime he has been ahead since early May.

(Additional reporting by Amy Tennery, Emily Stephenson, Jonathan Allen, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Steve Holland and Frances Kerry; Writing by Frances Kerry and Alistair Bell; Editing by Peter Cooney and Howard Goller; Additional reporting by AOL.com)