Another possible running mate for Mr Trump, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, took questions in a Facebook Live broadcast on Thursday afternoon and didn’t confirm whether he was out of the running, but seemed to suggest it had come down to Mr Pence and him.
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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK Republican Donald Trump’s expected selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate cheered the us energy industry and dismayed green advocates on Thursday, with both sides citing Pence’s support for coal mining and defiance of President Barack Obama’s climate-change agenda.
Pence, who previously supported Ted Cruz, is a hard-lined Christian conservative, representing the rank-and-file Republican coalition that’s found little representation in Trump’s more populist brand of conservatism.
The reports come after weeks of speculation over who Trump will choose as his running mate; his campaign vetted a number of high-profile Republicans-including Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie-in a series of meet-and-greets and campaign rallies created to test the potential running mate’s viability.
Pence’s team had gotten word to start preparing to get the official nod Thursday, and the Trump campaign is now planning for a scenario with Pence as the running mate, according to two sources familiar with the process.
The top contenders have been vetted by a top Washington lawyer and all have spent time with Trump in recent days.
Pence has been in a contentious re-election campaign and would have until noon Friday to withdraw his name as a candidate for governor since state law prevents him from seeking two offices at once.
Pence is running for re-election, but IN law prevents him from seeking two offices at once.
Pence, the governor of IN, represents a safe choice who would solidify the Republican base and is popular with social conservatives. “He’s just done a tremendous job in IN just look at his record and accomplishments economically, he’s one of the nation’s more solid governors”.
But a Republican source confirmed to the Guardian that the choice will be Pence.
Trump spent Tuesday and Wednesday in IN with Pence after a campaign rally in Westfield.
At the same time, Goldstein said, Pence allows Trump to avoid the enormous baggage that other finalists would have brought to the ticket.
Mr Pence quickly backed Mr Trump after that decisive contest, though, and his appeal is largely as a bridge between Trump-resistant Republicans and their unorthodox nominee. He said that while his running mate selection would “absolutely not” be changed by the France attack, he did not feel it was appropriate to hold a news conference in its aftermath.
The 57-year-old Pence, who first endorsed Texas Sen.
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Mr Pence was also complimented on Thursday at the White House, where press secretary Josh Earnest noted the governor had been doing “important work with the administration to expand Medicaid in his state”. He is perhaps best known nationally for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act he signed previous year that was thought to allow for discrimination against the LGBT community. He has been a steadfast Trump defender for months and has become a trusted adviser to the businessman.
