About an hour before the deadline for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to withdraw from his re-election bid Friday, Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he’d chosen the Republican as his vice presidential candidate.
Advertisement
Those sources said that by mid-afternoon, after the initial news reports, he had still “not informed” the other two men on his final list -former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – that a final decision had been reached. “Trump’s choice of Gov. Pence is further evidence that he is temperamentally unfit to make the right choices and tough decisions to run America”.
Jim Bopp, an influential conservative attorney who has previously advised Pence, said the delayed announcement “creates an enormous legal problem” for Pence, who is barred by IN law from seeking both offices.
Pence’s one term as governor has drawn mixed reaction, and he has managed to alienate moderate Republicans over social issues.
Trump said Thursday that he chose to postpone the event due to the Bastille Day attack.
Democrats are going with former state House Speaker John Gregg (D), who almost defeated Pence four years ago, and who’s been well positioned to do well in 2016.
After spending much of Thursday in Indianapolis, Pence flew to NY.
Pence keeps a low-profile and can play a crucial role in uniting the Republican party to rally around the controversial billionaire ahead of the November presidential elections.
The Wall Street Journal said by picking Pence, Trump has balanced his ticket with an even-tempered conservative.
Trump had planned to hold a press conference Friday morning, but he canceled that after a deadly attack in France.
Priebus says Pence offers a “very different style that I think shows a lot of maturity” on Trump’s part.
Trump postponed the official announcement in the aftermath of the deadly truck attack in Nice, France, but it has been widely reported that he has offered Pence the job and the in governor, who faced a noon deadline Friday to withdraw from his race for re-election as governor, has accepted.
Of course, Trump isn’t courting Silicon Valley with his choice of Pence. Pence was the favored choice of many Republican leaders, as well as some top advisers in Trump’s campaign, reflecting a desire to see the real estate mogul add a more traditional politician to the ticket.
Manafort says Trump thought it would be “totally inappropriate” in the aftermath of the attack to announce the pick on Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security will send more than 3,000 personnel to each convention, Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Thursday, speaking before the Nice attack.
And, Pence provides Trump with something else, someone who knows his way around Washington.
The convention rules committee rejected the “open convention” proposal.
Advertisement
Other Republicans with knowledge of the process said there had been no calls to Christie, either. That’s true. He announced a change because it had nothing do with politics, today, he’ll be announcing when he makes the decision.
