Mike Pence answered questions about Donald Trump’s negative campaigning on Saturday, calling the presumptive GOP nominee “a good man who’s been talking about the issues the American people care about”.
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Trump’s announcement comes three days before the Republican National Convention opens in Cleveland, Ohio, where Trump will officially become the party’s presidential nominee.
Following a more than 20-minute speech in which Mr Trump frequently deviated from Mr Pence, the two men shared the spotlight for only the briefest of moments when Mr Pence walked out and they shook hands, and again after Mr Pence had finished speaking and was joined by Mr Trump and both families.
Pence took the microphone and presented Trump as someone who “gets the American people”.
Trump described Pence as his “first choice” for the job but has admitted that he went with the governor for “party unity.because I’m an outsider”.
Pence spent 12 years in the House of Representatives, many of those on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and also spent time in House leadership.
While Trump has campaigned as a protectionist, Pence has backed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sweeping trade deal that Trump has attacked as bad for U.S. jobs. He added that because top USA security officials have all said that Islamic State have used the refugee crisis to infiltrate the West, that’s why Trump’s call made sense.
“He’s a solid, solid person”, Trump said.
Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman, strongly rejected suggestions that the candidate considered changing his mind about Pence.
Trump spoke first, while Pence stood off stage out of view. As Mother Jones points out, Pence and Trump also have major disagreements on free trade.
“I answered this call for two reasons”, Pence said of deciding to be Trump’s running mate. Then he added: “Back to Mike Pence”. If the main electoral imperative in running-mate selections is to Do No Harm, Pence fits the bill.
In choosing Mr. Pence, Mr. Trump appears to be looking past their numerous policy differences. And Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke for almost 30 minutes before calling Pence to the stage.
“Flynn continued that Trump will surround himself with the “right type of people, and the right skillset, and the right strategic thinkers and doers more importantly, that understand what is going on, and are able to solve some of the big complex problems that we have”. So divided, in fact, that it seemed possible that Trump might be stuck with a scandal-ridden, unpopular retread (such as Newt Gingrich or Chris Christie) or some obscure figure without any obvious presidential credentials.
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He also revealed that he got the call to be Trump’s running mate on Wednesday, even though on Thursday Trump told Fox News that he had yet to make a “final, final choice”.
