USA TODAY International Edition
Pence does his part to unify the GOP
Indiana governor and GOP vice president nominee working to bring party together behind Trump
In a warm- up for his vice presidential nomination speech, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence told a friendly crowd at the American Conservative Union Foundation on Tuesday how his life had changed since becoming the presumptive GOP vice presidential nominee.
The Indiana Republican got laughs for saying he had his first ride in a motorcade to get to the speech.
“I actually got out to the car in the alley and saw all these cars and I turned to the security official and asked, ‘ Are they all with us?’ ” he said.
Invoking his first favorite Republican — Ronald Reagan — before turning to his newest favorite — Donald Trump — Pence said Reagan used to talk about speeding along in a motorcade and wishing he could reach out and touch the people waving alongside the road.
Pence said Reagan had extraordinary humility and an “unshakable faith in the capacity of the American people to achieve greatness and astound the world.”
“I hear it and I see it in the man I think will be the next president of the United States,” he said of Trump.
He got the strongest audience reaction comparing Trump to the Democratic opposition.
Pence said President Obama and former secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, have “weakened America’s place in the world and stifled the nation’s economy.”
“We must decide here and now that Hillary Clinton will never become president of the United States of America,” he said to sustained applause.
“For the sake of our troops, who deserve a commander in chief who will have their back, for the sake of hard- working Americans and businesses who deserve a president who will get Washington, D. C., off their back, and for the sake of a Supreme Court that will uphold the sanctity of life, our Second Amendment and our God- given liberties, we must elect Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America,” he said.
Pence’s speech was not announced in advance to the news media.
But it was not a surprise that he spoke before a strongly conservative audience.
One of the benefits Pence brings to the ticket is his ties with both social and fiscal conservatives, many of whom have been less then enthusiastic about Trump.
The ACU event began with a panel addressing the topic, “Will conservatives support Trump?”
“It made a huge statement for Gov. Pence to stand shoulder to shoulder with conservatives at ACU’s forum,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp. “We are thrilled to have Gov. Pence on the ticket.”
Pence will have a chance to reach out to a broader audience when he gives his acceptance speech before the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Wednesday.
“The time has come for us to come together,” Pence told the American Conservative Union. “The primaries are over.”
“The time has come for us to come together. The primaries are over.” Mike Pence, Republican vice presidential nominee