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Donald Trump clarified after being corrected by reporters. | AP Photo

Trump confuses Clinton's running mate with former New Jersey governor

Donald Trump mixed up Hillary Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, with the former governor of New Jersey during a news conference on Wednesday.

"Her running mate Tim Kaine, who by the way did a terrible job in New Jersey -- first act he did in New Jersey was ask for a $4 billion tax increase and he was not very popular in New Jersey and he still isn't," Trump said.

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Corrected by reporters, who suggested he might be confusing Kaine with Thomas Kean, a Republican who governed New Jersey from 1982 to 1990, Trump clarified.

"What? I mean Virginia."

The New Jersey tax increase that Trump may or may not been talking about came not under Kean, a Republican, but his successor Jim Florio, a Democrat. The 1990 package was so unpopular that New Jersey Democrats were swamped in the next election cycle, and Florio subsequently lost his reelection bid.

According to PolitiFact, Kaine, who was governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, did indeed propose $4 billion in tax increases, though not all at once.

According to online surveys by Morning Consult, Kaine has the approval of 52 percent of Virginia voters, versus 24 percent who disapprove. As governor, his aggregated net approval rating began high but steadily narrowed, ending slightly positive by the time he left office.

Polling on Kaine's popularity in New Jersey, however, is hard to come by.