Finalists for the slot include New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, and Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, although a surprise candidate is still possible.
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News corespondent Major Garrett, who was in Indianapolis this week for Donald Trump’s visit, said that he was on a flight out of Indianapolis to NY with Marc Lotter, the deputy manager for Gov. Mike Pence’s reelection campaign.
In his public comments on the selection, Trump has been coy and occasionally contradictory, telling the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that he was seeking an “attack dog” on the ticket, before reversing himself Wednesday in an interview with Fox News.
Newt Gingrich expects to get a call from Trump about his vice presidential decision after 1 p.m. today, Gingrich told ABC News this morning via email.
“Pence doesn’t have any of the personal negatives or the outsized personality quirks that you might have with either Gingrich or Christie”, said Paul Helmke, the former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind., who now is an Indiana University professor.
“You either have it or you don’t”.
Donald Trump said Wednesday that his campaign still has three or four potential vice-presidential candidates “but in my own mind, I probably am thinking about two”.
The Trump campaign is announcing the VP pick at 11 a.m. on Friday in NY. The announcement comes after a day when Mr. Trump was stranded in Indianapolis after a malfunction with his aircraft grounded him in the city.
Meanwhile, Fox News announced Tuesday that Gingrich had agreed to stop being a network contributor because of speculation he might join Trump’s ticket.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is moving closer to choosing a vice presidential running mate.
As Trump headed to Indiana, Christie, the New Jersey governor, met with Ivanka Trump at Trump Tower on Tuesday.
Jeff Sessions, like Christie, gets points for loyalty, as he was the first US senator to endorse Trump. Indiana Governor Mike Pence hosted Trump and his family at his house on Wednesday morning.
Trump’s vice presidential pick could be one of the most important decisions he makes on the campaign trail as he seeks to present a competent, steady wingman or woman to USA voters after a turbulent primary season during which his provocative rhetoric frustrated many conservatives.
The Republican National Convention, where Trump will formally be enshrined as the party’s nominee, begins Monday in Cleveland.
“Pence would be a very good pick from the standpoint of having federal and state government experience, and also he has been a card-carrying member of the conservative movement his whole life”, Black said.
Trump was making his final decision from California, where he is scheduled to attend a series of fundraisers at a distance from many of his closest advisers.
A crush of reporters tracked Trump’s departure from the IN governor’s home and the comings and goings at his hotel throughout the day. “I’m a conservative”, he once said, “but I’m not angry about it”.
During a rally earlier in the week, Donald Trump teased that the governor may not run for re-election at all.
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Trump dined with the Pences last night, a Trump adviser also told CNN.
