The Latest: Mike Pence turns emotional back home in Indiana

Mike Pence got choked-up when he arrived home to a cheering crowd celebrating his addition to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

The Indiana governor turned presidential running mate returned in a private jet Saturday evening and told those assembled at a hangar that the last few days had been “pretty overwhelming.”

Pence thanked individual members of his family during a short address and asked for prayers. The Republican vice presidential candidate told the crowd that Trump is a good man who will be a “great president.”

Divisive social issues have been a hallmark of Pence’s tenure as governor. He told the crowd that he would take “Hoosier ideals to Washington” if elected.

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6:10 p.m.

Now officially part of Donald Trump’s presidential ticket, Mike Pence arrived back home in the style of his new boss.

The theme music from the movie “Air Force One” blared over loudspeakers as a plane carrying Pence pulled up to a hangar at a suburban Indianapolis airport on Saturday evening, mirroring Trump’s trademark campaign rally entrance.

But the similarities stopped there, as Pence spoke to the crowd from a podium with no campaign sign attached and for just a few minutes.

The newly minted vice presidential candidate said he and his wife Karen will “cherish the Hoosier homecoming” for the “rest of our lives,” and he asked attendees of the homecoming rally to pray for his family in the coming months.

He then asked the crowd to vote for Trump for the sake of the nation’s servicemen and women, for hardworking Americans and a Supreme Court that will “uphold our Constitution.”

Trump formally introduced Pence as his running mate on Saturday in New York. Pence says he and his family planned to cap their big day with a Saturday evening “pizza night” at the Indiana governor’s residence.

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5:55 p.m.

Several hundred people are gathered in a suburban Indianapolis airplane hangar, waiting for Gov. Mike Pence to arrive back home in Indiana after his formal debut as Donald Trump’s running mate.

A handful of state lawmakers and elected officials are among the crowd at the “Welcome Home” rally, including Indiana congresswoman Susan Brooks and the state’s outgoing U.S. senator, Dan Coats.

The less-than-half-full hangar is devoid of any campaign signs or other hints that Pence is now a part of the Republican presidential ticket, aside from the music. Trump campaign rally standards by the Rolling Stones and Elton John are playing on a loop as the crowd waits for Pence, who is running about an hour late.

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1:20 p.m.

A Montana lawmaker has resigned as a delegate to the Republican National Convention over the GOP’s position on the transfer of federal lands to states.

Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke told The (Billings) Gazette that he still plans to give a speech Monday to the convention about national security. But he says he’s withdrawing as a delegate because the GOP platform is “more divisive than uniting.”

The party’s platform committee this past week endorsed draft language that calls on Congress to pass legislation that would shift some federally controlled public lands to the states.

This has been a major issue in Montana’s House race. Zinke says he supports better management but not transfer to the states.

A reserve Montana delegate will have to be appointed to replace him.

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12:45 p.m.

Hillary Clinton will promise to introduce an amendment overturning Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruling that opened the door to a flood of corporate and union spending in politics.

Her campaign says the Democratic presidential candidate will make her announcement in a video shown on Saturday to liberal activists meeting at the annual Netroots Nation conference in St. Louis.

The 2010 decision has become a rallying cry for those seeking to limit the influence of money in politics. The ruling led to the rise of Super PACs and boosted the effect of nonprofit spending. Both groups can now accept unlimited donations.

Overturning the decision was a key plank in the campaign of primary rival Bernie Sanders, who refused corporate donations.

Unlike Sanders, Clinton supports Super PACs working on her behalf, saying Democrats cannot unilaterally disarm. But she’s also stressed the need to get “secret, unaccountable money” out of the political system.

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12:10 p.m.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has delivered a ringing endorsement of Donald Trump as he joins him as the vice presidential candidate on the Republican ticket.

Pence quickly proved comfortable using Trump’s slogan, declaring “we need to make America great again and that day begins when Donald Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States.”

Pence touted Trump’s pledges to repeal Obamacare, revive the coal industry and toughen the nation’s immigration policy. Pence did so while suggesting Hillary Clinton’s policy proposals would weaken the nation’s economy and its security.

Trump officially introduced Pence as his running mate at a low-key rally on Saturday in New York. When he brought Pence to the stage, the celebrity businessman shook his hand and patted his forearm before quickly exiting. He came back for a photo with their families at the end of the governor’s remarks.

Pence is scheduled to appear at a rally in Indiana later Saturday. Trump is not scheduled to join him.

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11:50 a.m.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has officially accepted Donald Trump’s offer to join him on the Republican presidential ticket.

Pence says at an announcement event on Saturday in New York that Trump “is a great man and he will make a great president of the United States of America.”

He says he was “honored” to accept the offer to join the ticket, because the country needs “strong Republican leadership” and because presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton can never be president.

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11:40 a.m.

Donald Trump says his selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate is one that will help him restore manufacturing jobs nationwide and protect religious freedom.

The presumptive Republican nominee spoke for nearly a half-hour Saturday as he introduced his pick for vice president, calling Pence onto the stage at the end.

Trump touted Indiana’s falling unemployment rate and said that Pence would help his campaign and his potential administration protect the freedom of speech of religious institutions.

He also touted Pence’s family and said the governor “looks good.” He even noted that while Pence endorsed GOP rival Ted Cruz in Indiana’s primary, the governor also praised Trump as he did so.

But while Trump says Pence’s selection was partially driven by a desire to promote “party unity,” Trump took a moment to attack the so-called “Never Trump” delegates attending next week’s Republican National Convention.

He brags that they’ve been “crushed.”

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11:30 a.m.

Donald Trump says the man who will join him on the Republican presidential ticket is a “man of character, honor and honesty.”

Trump calls Indiana Gov. Mike Pence “a solid, solid person” and is contrasting his character to what he deemed “the corruption of Hillary Clinton,” his likely Democratic opponent in the fall election.

Trump declares at an announcement event Saturday morning in New York, “What a difference between crooked Hillary Clinton and Mike Pence.”

The two men are scheduled to formally become their party’s nominees at next week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Trump says he and Pence are the “the law and order candidates,” adding that his potential administration would be far tougher on both foreign and domestic terrorism than would Clinton.

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11:20 a.m.

Donald Trump is introducing Mike Pence as his running mate, calling Indiana’s governor “his first choice” to join him on the Republican presidential ticket.

Trump spoke with Pence on Saturday morning in a ballroom of a New York City hotel, a day after first introducing his choice for vice president in a Friday morning tweet.

The billionaire businessman strode first onto the stage that featured a backdrop of 10 American flags. The event did not feature any new “Trump-Pence” signs, instead displaying the standard “Trump” podium sign.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee was cheered by a crowd of several hundred friends and local Republicans. He said he would champion “law and order” in the wake of this week’s terror attack in France.

He says of the new Republican ticket, “we are the law and order candidates.”

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11:10 a.m.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is seizing on the suggestion that Donald Trump may have wavered in making his vice presidential pick.

Clinton’s campaign released a web video early Saturday highlighting the campaign’s mixed signals and Trump’s contradictory statements about where he was in the selection process in the lead-up to his announcement Friday morning of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

The ad’s tagline says: “Donald Trump. Always divisive. Not so decisive.”

Trump’s campaign has strongly rejected the idea Trump had second thoughts about Pence. Campaign chairman Paul Manafort says Trump “never waffled” once he made his decision.

Trump and Pence are scheduled to make their first joint appearance Saturday morning in New York.

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10:55 a.m.

Donald Trump is poised to officially name his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

Trump and Pence will appear at a midtown Manhattan hotel on Saturday morning. It will be their first joint appearance since Trump announced his pick of Pence on Twitter Friday morning.

Pence is a favorite among Evangelical voters and the Republican Party’s conservative base. He was picked after Trump’s days-long and unusually public deliberation process.

Aides said the two men are not expected to take questions at Saturday’s announcement event.

It will take place in the same ballroom where Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio raised eyebrows by making a racially-questionable joke during a charity event this spring.

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10:44 a.m.

The Northeast might not be the most fertile ground for Republican candidates for national office, but New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will be front-and-center at next week’s Republican National Convention.

Delegates from those states will have prime seats to watch billionaire businessman Donald Trump accept the GOP’s nomination for president.

The delegates from Wyoming, the District of Columbia and Washington state might want to bring binoculars.

Delegates are traditionally seated based on the political importance of their state, and Trump is from New York.

Battleground states Ohio and Florida also have pretty good seats. Oddly, competitive battleground states Colorado and Virginia are in the back.

Much of the leadership of the Never Trump movement is from Colorado, so those delegates might struggle to be heard.

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3:28 a.m.

His running mate largely unknown to the public, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is introducing Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a steady conservative with governing experience inside and outside of Washington.

Trump and Pence will appear together Saturday morning at a midtown Manhattan hotel, an unofficial kickoff event to the Republican National Convention two days before it opens in Cleveland.

While Trump showcases his choice, Democrat Hillary Clinton’s team is already painting Pence’s conservative social viewpoints as out of step with the mainstream.

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.

[Source:- Lincon Journal star]