It was a major blow to Republican foes of Trump who have been working to try to thwart his nomination.
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Donald Trump’s campaign has signaled strongly to Republicans in Washington that he will pick Mike Pence, the governor of in, as his running mate.
A formal press conference announcing the pick has been scheduled for 11 a.m. EDT Saturday.
Donald Trump has offered Mike Pence the vice presidential spot on his Republican ticket, and Trump aides have told the IN governor the formal announcement event could be made on Saturday.
Trump postponed those plans late Thursday following the truck attack on a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, that left scores dead. But the businessman put those questions to rest Friday when he tweeted that he was “pleased” to announce Pence as his No. 2.
Pence has been elected to office, having served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and he has exercised executive authority during his single term as governor.
Clinton’s campaign also spotlighted Pence’s anti-abortion record and his signing of a law that allowed IN businesses to ignore anti-discrimination rules that conflict with their religious beliefs, a measure widely denounced as anti-gay after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
Clinton’s campaign moved quickly to paint Pence as the “most extreme pick in a generation”.
Pence can not simultaneously run for vice president and governor, meaning he had to withdraw from the ballot by noon Friday to be Trump’s running mate.
Pence brings political experience Trump has said he’s looking for to help him navigate Washington.
The convention and vice presidential announcement give Trump back-to-back opportunities to reassure Americans – as well as leaders within his own party – that he’s prepared for the presidency.
“I hear what people are saying about him but I don’t think they should judge who he is until they get to know him better”, said Kassidy Tigner of Fort Wayne.
“We have to call him”.
Pence also has influential allies in Trump’s inner circle. He had to make up his mind by noon on Friday, the deadline for Pence to drop his bid for re-election in IN, where the law prevents a candidate from seeking election to multiple offices.
IN law bars a candidate from seeking state and federal offices at the same time, so Pence needs to file paperwork with state election officials to take his name off the gubernatorial ballot so state Republican leaders can pick a new candidate for governor. Yet his popularity at home has tumbled and re-election was not guaranteed. He deepened his ties to evangelical Christians and other conservatives previous year when he signed the law affecting gays. “I haven’t agreed with every one of my Republican colleagues or Democrat colleagues on every issue”, Pence said at the time.
NEWS BRIEF “I think that Mr. Trump has reached a decision” on his vice-presidential pick, said Trump campaign spokesman Paul Manafort on Friday.
The announcement came after a day of confusion about whether published reports about his choice of Pence had been premature, with the candidate insisting late Thursday night that he had not made a “final, final decision”.
Some US media had reported on Thursday that Pence would be chosen, but the Trump campaign had said no choice had been made, prompting speculation that the candidate had changed his mind.
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If Governor Mike Pence agrees to become presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s running mate the Republican party would have to find a new candidate for Indiana’s gubernatorial election.
