Joined by daughter Ivanka and sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, Trump also had breakfast with Pence and his wife, Karen, on Wednesday at the governor’s residence in Indianapolis.
Advertisement
In recent weeks, Pence has remained on the gubernatorial campaign trail while also being vetted by Trump as a potential running mate.
More broadly, Christie said he wasn’t advising Trump on the running mate decision because he’d simply be too biased toward himself. “He is a very smart choice”.
Pence would give Trump a younger, conservative favorite to help heal the rift within the Republican Party and ease the minds of many still skeptical of the presumptive presidential nominee.
“I know him to be. a Reaganesque communicator”.
After his election in 2010, U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-Laurens, said he also formed a favorable impression of Pence.
“I can see an argument for all of them, and, personally, I’m just trying to keep my options open to see everybody that presents themselves”, Barbknecht said. “I’ll make it today probably or maybe tomorrow”.
Trump was set to announce Pence Friday.
Pence is a reasonably experienced, sober-minded conservative who plausibly meets the “Marine One” test of being able to step into the presidential helicopter at a moment of national crisis. Medved says Pence will help unify the now divided Republican Party. But as governor, Pence struggled in the shadow of Mitch Daniels, his predecessor who backed away from a presidential campaign of his own in 2014.
In 2015, Pence became a lightning rod for criticism after he signed Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. The act was widely seen as meant to allow discrimination against LGBT individuals, and its passage prompted calls to boycott Indiana.
Reports of the governor’s selection were unconfirmed Thursday night, but Pence was said to be the top choice of Trump’s children, who have played an active role in his campaign. Indianapolis television station WTHR posted a video showing Pence arriving at a private airport in New Jersey early Thursday evening. He’s been in Congress and in statewide office, and he’s a solid conservative on both social and economics issues.
Campaign chair Paul Manafort was among those urging caution in assuming any decision Thursday, saying on Twitter that Trump’s choice “will be made in the near future”.
During a Facebook Live chat Tuesday afternoon, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich didn’t acknowledge reports that Donald Trump had selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.
Trump had been considering a handful of candidates to run as his vice president.
A native of Columbus, Indiana, Pence was born in 1959 and grew up in a family of Irish Catholic Democrats who revered John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic elected president.
Trump’s political views on a range of issues, from worldwide trade to abortion rights, have morphed from a liberal stance to a conservative one.
In addition to Pence, Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were believed to be Trump VP finalists.
The 22-member panel would have 30 days to select a new nominee for governor, but former state Republican Chairman Mike McDaniel said he expects a decision will be sooner.
Advertisement
So sure, he’s less perilous than Gingrich or Christie, and not in any danger of upstaging the Boss (unless it’s with a gaffe).
