Political insiders say the most likely candidate for vice president for Donald Trump will be – drumroll, please – Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
Trump is heading for a campaign stop in Indiana on Tuesday, fueling speculation about a bit reported just hours ago in the Washington Times – that sources close to Trump and Pence say there’s a “95 percent probability” the Indiana governor is going to be the billionaire’s chosen one.
Meanwhile, the National Review, no friend of Trump, opined: “Several Pence allies say that he will accept the nomination if it is offered to him. Coming as it does from the man who led the principle conservative opposition to George W. Bush in Congress; who has long claimed to be ‘a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order’; and whom the New York Times in 2006 dubbed ‘the perfect conservative,’ the willingness to embrace Trump has come as a surprise to many.”
Pence, who was pressed by conservatives months ago to sidestep his first-term governor duties and run for the high office himself, later endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz for president. He then fell behind Trump, saying the billionaire businessman represented a good opportunity to “take a new direction” in Washington, D.C., the Hill reported.
Pence doubled down on his praise for Trump in a recent interview with the Associated Press, saying the candidate had “the kind of leadership that I truly do believe, to borrow a phrase, will make America great again.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is still in the running for vice president, as well as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Jeff Sessions.
But Pence is creating a major buzz.
Trump is due to announce his pick before the July 18 Republican National Convention. Pence, meanwhile, has to withdraw from his re-election run by July 15 to jump on board as Trump’s vice president.
“I put all my chips on Pence/VP announcement at this event. Right guy. Right timing. Right place,” tweeted Michael Caputo, a former Trump adviser, as the Hill noted.
And Zeke Miller, a political reporter at Time, suggested similarly in a tweet: “Trump is holding a rally in Indiana on Tuesday evening. Pence stock rising?”
