The audience whooped uproariously and shouted Trump’s name. “Who the hell knows?” he said to raucous cheers. With an aggressive and well-received speech Tuesday, Pence also showed that he could be an effective surrogate for Trump.
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“We don’t need a president who took 13 hours to send help to Americans under fire and after four courageous Americans fell”, Pence told the crowd.
Michael Richard Pence was born in Columbus, Ind., on June 7, 1959, one of six children. “We will not rest, we will not relent, until we make this good man our president”, he told thousands at a rally in the Indianapolis suburb of Westfield, introducing the candidate.
“I would say they’re dividing America”, Trump said Tuesday on “The O’Reilly Factor”.
Many establishment Republicans on Capitol Hill were warming to the idea of Trump potentially choosing Pence, who served in House GOP leadership. Instead, Pence, under pressure from national conservatives, tepidly endorsed Trump’s rival, Sen.
The other two top contenders are former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who has publicly announced that he is being vetted for the job, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ABC News can confirm is being vetted.
“I think he is someone who has connected with everyday Americans like no one since Ronald Reagan”, Pence said.
Mike Pence delivered an impassioned audition to become Donald Trump’s chief attack dog Tuesday, tearing into Hillary Clinton and mocking Bernie Sanders during a joint campaign rally here.
At a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 6, Trump was introduced by Gingrich.
The Indiana Democratic Party, which organized the protest, called Pence’s support of Trump a “desperate attempt to save his own career”.
“To paraphrase the director of the FBI, I think it would be extremely careless to elect Hillary Clinton as president of the United States”, Pence said, referring to FBI Director James Comey critiquing Clinton about her use of private email server while she was secretary of state.
He told the Wall Street Journal that he wants an experienced government leader as his running mate.
As speculation ran rampant in the Republican “veepstakes”, one candidate with major buzz, Senator Bob Corker, removed himself from contention.
Pence probably said all the right things on Tuesday, but he didn’t come off as pugnacious as both Gingrich and Christie often can. “Christie has fiercely guarded his reputation as a strong executive, taken pains not to see his vetoes overturned and put forward sweeping proposals that anger liberals and have little chance of passing”.
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Earlier in the day, Pence declined to directly answer questions about how he would address significant differences with Trump.
