If Donald Trump’s Twitter feed was not official enough, Trump made the official announcement Saturday that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will be his running mate.
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In a news conference Saturday morning, Trump said, “I’ve found a leader who will help us deliver”. “I’ve admired the work he’s done, especially in IN”, he said, praising his leadership for about 40 seconds before going back to trashing Clinton, whom he called “the embodiment of corruption”. He also said the Pence family planned to return to the governor’s residence in Indianapolis for “pizza night”.
Following a more than 20-minute speech in which Trump frequently deviated from Pence, the two men shared the spotlight for only the briefest of moments when Pence walked out and they shook hands, and again after Pence had finished speaking and was joined by Trump and both families.
Trump introduced Pence as his No. 2 on Saturday, passing over candidates with whom he has a more personal connection in favor of an experienced politician with solid conservative credentials.
Pence, applauding Trump after not endorsing him in the primary.
“The American people are exhausted”, Pence said in remarks that included numerous same talking points that until recently he was using in his bid for re-election.
Pence is best known nationally for signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, which opponents said opened the door for legal discrimination against gays.
Today, 16 July, the presumptive Republican nominee for the White House introduced IN governor as his vice vice presidential running mate.
Once calling himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order”, Pence is also a beloved social conservative among the devout evangelical conservatives within the party.
Priebus described Trump and Pence as being “somewhere in the middle of each other” and says Trump plans an engagement tour soon to attract Latino voters.
On Thursday, Trump had convened a midnight campaign conference call about his pick, even after he’d had Pence fly to NY to accept his offer.
“I am going to have very few troops on the ground”.
“One of the reasons is party unity, I have to be honest”, he said. Monday’s headliners include Trump’s wife, Melania, and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, while Trump’s children Tiffany and Donald Jr. will speak on Tuesday.
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In their first joint appearance, Trump tried to draw a sharp contrast between Pence, a soft-spoken conservative, and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate. He commended Trump before begrudgingly announcing that he will be voting for Cruz. “She led Barack Obama – because I don’t think he knew anything; I think he relied on her”, Trump said.
