While Ryan’s relationship with Pence’s running-mate Donald Trump has been spotty over the course of the campaign, with Ryan publicly splitting on key positions with Trump at times, Pence had only words of admiration for the House Speaker today and complimented his “A Better Way” agenda.
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Pence mentioned House Republicans’ “Better Way” agenda and how Trump wants to work with members of Congress that Pence knows and trusts, Rep. Thomas Massie said. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Trump’s fiercest rivals in the primary campaign, pointedly declined to endorse Trump in a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July, and two of his fellow senators, Jeff Flake, of Arizona, and Ben Sasse, of Nebraska, have been vocal in their opposition to Trump.
“Mike Pence is a friend”. Pence pushed aside a question Tuesday morning about Ryan’s past rebukes of Trump, saying the campaign’s respect for Ryan is “boundless” and that there is remarkable “consistency” between the visions of the party’s congressional leaders and its nominee.
Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence is standing by his refusal to describe white supremacist David Duke as “deplorable”.
Pence’s Capitol Hill visit is the latest in his effort to mend fences and get colleagues, if not enthused about the ticket, more comfortable with it.
“I think every little bridge-building exercise like that is very helpful”, Cornyn said on Tuesday, characterizing the meeting between Pence and Senate Republicans.
“I would draw no more conclusion of that man’s expressions of support than I would the fact that the father of a terrorist who killed 49 Americans was seen at a Hillary Clinton rally cheering her on”, he continued, referring to the father of the man who opened fire on a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June.
Cruz says he had a “good and productive conversation” and a “very good meeting”.
Indiana Rep. Luke Messer said many House members remarked during the closed-door meeting that if Pence is the kind of person Trump is going to surround himself with, then they feel a lot more comfortable with the ticket.
“He vouched for him”, the New York Republican said.
“And Mike makes a compelling argument for Donald Trump”, Messer added.
King also said that multiple members stood up during the meeting to tell Pence that they only chose to support Trump after he was added to the ticket.
There was one potentially awkward situation: Someone asked Pence, who was standing beside Ryan, what he made of the speaker calling out Trump repeatedly, and whether that had made it more hard to win over moderate voters.
A House Republican has questioned vice presidential nominee Mike Pence about Donald Trump’s standing among women – and what can be done to improve it. But more recently he has said his and Trump’s comments were not an endorsement of Putin, but an indictment of the “weak and feckless” leadership of the Obama administration.
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“Look, you’re going to have in the majority party, occasionally have differences of opinion but our goals are identical”.
