As the Republican Party prepares for the national convention, we are beginning to get a better look at what Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Pence look like as a political team.
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Trump acknowledged that the choice was about unifying the party. “Because I’m an outsider”, Trump said. He then read a series of statistics highlighting the job growth in Indiana. “I guess that’s why he went for Pence instead of Gingrich”, said Michael Cromartie, who directs the program on Evangelicals in Civil Life at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, talking about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia.
“He looks very good”, added the NY real estate mogul, who is known to comment openly on people’s appearances.
Trump and Pence appeared on stage together only momentarily at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, each addressing the media and about 100 supporters who assembled for the event without the use of a teleprompter.
DONALD TRUMP: But she’s not.
Brandishing his running mate’s job-creating credentials, Trump ticked through a list of statistics he said showed how Pence had pulled IN out of economic recessions: an unemployment rate that fell to less than 5 percent on his watch, an uptick IN the labor force and a decrease IN IN residents on unemployment insurance. He’s entitled to make a mistake every once in a while. Trump then exited the stage while Pence spoke. Trump has struggled to bridge the gap between himself, a self-described outsider, and the establishment and conservative wings of the party.
“He looks very good”, Trump added, discussing Pence’s appearance. He predicted that Pence would have won re-election as governor, were he not running for vice president.
The campaign also released a one-minute video in which it criticized Pence’s decision a year ago to sign a so-called religious freedom bill that opponents argued allowed businesses to discriminate against the LGBT community.
The pair recorded an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that is scheduled to air on Sunday night. Pence gave a nod to that by saying “strong Republican leadership can bring about real change”. “People want to come here and destabilize our country”, says Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort. In fact, he spent about as much time lambasting Clinton as praising Pence, declaring she had led President Barack Obama “down a terrible path” overseas.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said if elected he will “declare war” on the Islamic State, but would send “very few” USA troops on the ground to combat the dreaded terror outfit.
Reports swirled on Friday that Trump had last-minute doubts about selecting Pence.
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Pence added that he supports Trump’s call for building a wall along the USA border with Mexico.
