With the news that the vice presidential slot may be filled and not by Republican Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor explained what his reaction will be if Donald Trump rolls out Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
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Before entering politics, he was a conservative talk radio host and hosted a Sunday political TV show in Indianapolis.
No official announcement from the Trump campaign is expected today.
“Mr. Trump’s selection of Gov. Mike Pence as his vice president is an affirmation of the pro-life commitments he has made and will rally the pro-life grassroots”, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.
“It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Mike Pence’s”, said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc. “I was grateful to visit our troops together in Iraq in 2008, where I saw firsthand his heartfelt appreciation for our service members and military families”. “So I’m happy for him and I’m happy for the ticket”, Tennessee Sen.
“If it is Governor Pence… he’s a guy without a scandal”, said John Weaver, who was the chief strategist for the presidential campaign of Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Trump was set to announce Pence Friday. Medved says Pence will help unify the now divided Republican Party.
Yet even as Pence may help Trump with conservatives, the IN governor not only has a low profile nationally, but he is facing a hard re-election this year against Democrat John Gregg.
Pence ran unsuccessfully for Congress twice before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 2000, where he was chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservatives.
“It will help Trump with the evangelicals and the conservatives”, Cobb-Hunter said. “He speaks their language, so that would bolster Trump with that part of the GOP base”.
Other Republicans with knowledge of the process said there had been no calls to Pence or Christie, either. Indianapolis television station WTHR posted a video showing Pence arriving at a private airport outside NY early Thursday evening. Conservatives had urged him to seek the White House, but missteps in 2015 related to an in law seen as anti-gay hurt his national profile.
Roll Call broke the news on twitter just after noon on Thursday.
The Indiana governor recently criticized Trump over his attacks on a judge’s “Mexican heritage”. IN law stipulated he had to decide by Friday whether he wanted to run for governor or for vice president, as he can not run for both.
“He’s a relatively fresh face on the national scene”, said Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign adviser.
The governor even noted that he would say no to Trump if offered a position he didn’t want in the administration. “This is an excellent choice by Donald Trump”. I hope that (Trump) he picks a good movement conservative. “But I don’t see that in Pence”. 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.
“Mike Pence has a model family, he is a devout Christian, he can speak intelligently about faith issues, can speak intelligently and compellingly about anything and I think he will be a very solid running mate”.
‘No. No one’s owed the vice presidency of the United States, ‘ Christie said. “They would be a subordinate”.
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“Given the nature of Trump, it’s hard to imagine that any vice president would be a partner”.
