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Trump delays VP announcement in wake of Nice attack

Posted at 10:42 AM, Jul 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-14 20:06:37-04

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump is delaying his announced of his running mate following the deadly attack on Nice France, as Trump was slated to announce that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence would be his vice presidential pick. 

ABC News reported that Trump has offered Pence to be his running mate, and Pence is reportedly traveling to New York as of Thursday evening. ABC News also reports that Pence has formally accepted Trump's offer.

Despite the reports, Trump refuted the news that he has selected Pence on Fox News Thursday evening. He said no decision has been made. 

The Indianapolis Star has confirmed that Pence will be dropping out of Indiana's gubernatorial race to run with Trump.

Pence was up for gubernatorial re-election in Indiana this year. Indiana law stipulated he had to decide by Friday whether he wanted to run for governor or for vice president, as he cannot run for both. 

 

 

 

Trump was reportedly choosing between former House speaker Newt Gingrich, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn was also considered a candidate to be Trump's running mate.

Despite all signs pointing to Pence as Trump's VP pick, Gingrich appeared to give a last-minute pitch for the job in a Facebook Live video on Thursday afternoon.

Prior to serving as Indiana's governor, Pence served in the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. From 2009-2011, Pence served as the House Republican Conference Chairman.

Last year, Pence received criticism from LGBT groups after signing into the law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Some groups felt that the law allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT people on the basis of religion. The law drew opposition from the NCAA, the NBA, Apple CEO Tim Cook and dozens of other major corporations. Pence later signed an amendment to the law protecting the rights of LGBT people.

Pence has also cut taxes and balanced Indiana's budget during his time in office.

Pence's approval rating has fallen in the past few months, at hovered around 40 percent in a may poll, according to Politico. Despite the low approval rating, Pence was leading Democrat John Gregg in recent gubernatorial polls.

Pence originally endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for president. After Cruz dropped his bid for the Republican nomination, he quickly endorsed presumptive nominee Trump — a move some of his fellow GOP governors, like Ohio Gov. John Kasich, have been reluctant to make.

Pence introduced Trump at a stump speech outside of Indianapolis on Tuesday, where he attacked presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, calling her dishonest and untrustworthy.

"I don't know if he's going to be your governor or your vice president, who the hell knows?" Trump said following Pence's introduction.

Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.