What to Know
- Donald Trump officially introduced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate at a campaign event in Manhattan.
- Trump declared that he and Pence are "the law-and-order candidates."
- Trump devoted much of his address to attacking Hillary Clinton as "corrupt."
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump brought his campaign to Manhattan Saturday to introduce his running mate, though he devoted the bulk of his remarks to attacking Democrat Hillary Clinton and praising himself.
Trump appeared with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence at a midtown Manhattan hotel, an unofficial kickoff event to the Republican National Convention two days before it opens in Cleveland.
"Mike Pence was my first choice, I’ve admired the work he’s done especially in the state of Indian," Trump said.
Pence, standing alone in front of American flags, hewed closely to the populist themes that Trump has voiced on the campaign trail, describing himself as "really just a small-town boy." He praised Trump effusively as "a good man," a fighter, a legendary businessman and a patriotic American.
"The American people are tired," Pence said. "We're tired of being told that this is as good as it gets. We're tired of having politicians in both parties in Washington, D.C., telling us we'll get to those problems tomorrow."
Largely unknown to the public, Pence is considered a steady conservative with governing experience inside and outside of Washington. Trump revealed his decision to select Pence a day earlier in a Twitter post.
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While Trump showcased his choice, he seized the occasion to criticize Clinton as "corrupt" and said she was "getting away with murder" in light of the Justice Department's decision against prosecuting her in the email scandal.
Trump accused Clinton of leading President Barack Obama "down a horrible path" in foreign policy.
Trump chose Pence in part to ease some Republicans' concerns about Trump's temperament and lack of political experience. Pence's demeanor is as calm as Trump's is fiery and he brings a sense of discipline that aides and advisers hope can bridge that gap.
Trump ticked through a list of statistics he said showed how Pence had pulled Indiana out of economic recessions: an unemployment rate that fell to less than 5 percent on his watch, an uptick in the labor force and a decrease in Indiana residents on unemployment insurance.
"This is the primary reason I wanted Mike - other than that he looks very good, other than he's got an incredible family, and incredible wife," Trump said. He predicted that Pence would have won re-election as governor, were he not running for vice president.
Clinton's team was already painting Pence's conservative social viewpoints as out of step with the mainstream.
