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| Donald Trump to announce Mike Pence as vice-presidential running mate | Donald Trump to announce Mike Pence as vice-presidential running mate |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Donald Trump has picked Mike Pence to be his vice-presidential candidate, the Guardian has learned. | Donald Trump has picked Mike Pence to be his vice-presidential candidate, the Guardian has learned. |
| Pence, the governor of Indiana, represents a safe choice who would solidify the Republican base and is popular with social conservatives. | Pence, the governor of Indiana, represents a safe choice who would solidify the Republican base and is popular with social conservatives. |
| In order to choose Pence, Trump had to make a decision by noon on Friday, the deadline for the Indiana governor to drop his bid for re-election. | In order to choose Pence, Trump had to make a decision by noon on Friday, the deadline for the Indiana governor to drop his bid for re-election. |
| Hoosier State law prevents a candidate for seeking election to multiple offices. Trump has announced that he will officially unveil his vice-presidential choice at 11am on Friday in New York. | Hoosier State law prevents a candidate for seeking election to multiple offices. Trump has announced that he will officially unveil his vice-presidential choice at 11am on Friday in New York. |
| Related: Donald Trump to pick Mike Pence as running mate – politics live | Related: Donald Trump to pick Mike Pence as running mate – politics live |
| Trump’s campaign chair, Paul Manafort, insisted the decision had not yet been made on Thursday. But a Republican source confirmed to the Guardian that the choice will be Pence. | |
| Multiple other media outlets, including the Indy Star in Pence’s home state, also confirmed the selection. | Multiple other media outlets, including the Indy Star in Pence’s home state, also confirmed the selection. |
| The decision represents an attempt to unite the Republican party and bring political experience to the businessman’s campaign. | The decision represents an attempt to unite the Republican party and bring political experience to the businessman’s campaign. |
| Trump has spent much of the last week in Indiana, grounded by an aircraft malfunction to his private jet, and whiled away the days by holding de facto auditions with three contenders: Pence, New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. | Trump has spent much of the last week in Indiana, grounded by an aircraft malfunction to his private jet, and whiled away the days by holding de facto auditions with three contenders: Pence, New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. |
| The three who spoke with Trump in the last week gave speeches that doubled as dress rehearsals for the campaign trial, and Pence also met with Trump’s adult children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr, who have assumed leading roles in their father’s campaign. | The three who spoke with Trump in the last week gave speeches that doubled as dress rehearsals for the campaign trial, and Pence also met with Trump’s adult children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr, who have assumed leading roles in their father’s campaign. |
| Pence brings several qualities to the Trump campaign that Republicans have found lacking, not least of which experience in government. The 57-year-old spent 12 years in Congress, including two years in a leadership role with the House Republican Conference. He was elected governor of Indiana in 2012, and gained a degree of national notoriety thanks to a controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which he signed into law and then wanted revised, after many argued it would allow discrimination against LGBT people. | |
| Related: Mike Pence: potential Trump VP pick could be asset despite clashing views | Related: Mike Pence: potential Trump VP pick could be asset despite clashing views |
| A Trump-Pence ticket could send a message to Republican dissenters who feel they cannot support a candidate who has proven inconsistent on guns, abortion, LGBT rights and other social conservative issues. Just before the Indiana primary election, the staunchly conservative governor endorsed Ted Cruz, Trump’s leading opponent and a far-right senator from Texas. | A Trump-Pence ticket could send a message to Republican dissenters who feel they cannot support a candidate who has proven inconsistent on guns, abortion, LGBT rights and other social conservative issues. Just before the Indiana primary election, the staunchly conservative governor endorsed Ted Cruz, Trump’s leading opponent and a far-right senator from Texas. |
| Pence does not come without baggage to a general election, however, where tens of millions more people vote than in the primaries. He is not very popular in his home state, nor well known outside it, and though his conservative bona fides will help unite the party they may push away important swing voters, particularly suburban women. | Pence does not come without baggage to a general election, however, where tens of millions more people vote than in the primaries. He is not very popular in his home state, nor well known outside it, and though his conservative bona fides will help unite the party they may push away important swing voters, particularly suburban women. |
| The governor is also a far more conventional Republican than Trump in many regards, and has publicly disagreed with the presumptive nominee on several occasions. He has supported free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is backed by Barack Obama and which Trump has called a “rape” of the US. | The governor is also a far more conventional Republican than Trump in many regards, and has publicly disagreed with the presumptive nominee on several occasions. He has supported free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is backed by Barack Obama and which Trump has called a “rape” of the US. |
| Without naming Trump, Pence has also attacked the businessman’s various calls to ban Muslims, or people from largely Muslim nations, from entering the United States. “Calls to ban Muslims from entering the US are offensive and unconstitutional,” he tweeted in December. | Without naming Trump, Pence has also attacked the businessman’s various calls to ban Muslims, or people from largely Muslim nations, from entering the United States. “Calls to ban Muslims from entering the US are offensive and unconstitutional,” he tweeted in December. |
| Despite this, Pence was one of several governors who tried in vain to block Syrian refugees from settling in Indiana. | Despite this, Pence was one of several governors who tried in vain to block Syrian refugees from settling in Indiana. |
| Pence has also voted to restrict Medicare rules, which Trump opposes, and in favor of the war in Iraq, which Trump has renounced in the years after he first supported it. | Pence has also voted to restrict Medicare rules, which Trump opposes, and in favor of the war in Iraq, which Trump has renounced in the years after he first supported it. |
| As reports of Pence’s announcement trickled in, Republicans on Capitol Hill were cautiously optimistic about the news. | |
| Tennessee senator Bob Corker, who was regarded as a top VP pick for Trump before taking himself out of the running last week, praised Pence’s experience in public office. | |
| “He’s certainly, as were the other finalists, a great choice,” Corker said. | |
| “He has the executive skills, he also has the legislative [experience], so I’m happy for him and happy for the ticket.” | |
| Arizona senator Jeff Flake said he was pleased with the choice, while adding his hope that Pence will “be a good influence” on Trump. | |
| “I think it’s the best thing Donald Trump has done so far,” said Flake, who has yet to endorse Trump. | |
| “I hope that Mike Pence can help change a few of Donald Trump’s positions, particularly as it relates to his statements about Hispanics.” | |
| But Flake, who had a heated exchange with the presumptive nominee during a closed-door meeting last week, said Pence’s presence on the ticket was not enough on its own for Trump to earn his support. | |
| “I’ll see where Donald Trump goes from here,” he said. | |
| Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski, who confessed to not knowing Pence, also reiterated her concerns about many of Trump’s statements and positions – his eventual running mate notwithstanding. | |
| “You want a person on the ticket who is going to help, and I’m sure that is what Mr Trump is weighing,” Murkowski said. |