Indiana Gov. Mike Pence admitted Friday he was not always a bonafide member of the GOP.
“I started out in politics as a Democrat,” Pence told “Fox News” host Sean Hannity in his first interview since Donald Trump picked him as his running mate. “But as I came up I started to hear Ronald Reagan’s capacity to articulate American ideals and I was drawn in to the Republican Party.”
Pence cited his evolution from liberal to conservative as evidence he was not the “divisive” Republican that presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton claimed he was earlier Friday.
“I’m a conservative, but I’m not in a bad mood about it,” Pence said. “Throughout my career, I’ve tried to stand for those principles.”
Pence, a former congressman who served during the late stages of the Republican Revolution, said Americans are tired of Clinton’s stirring the pot with partisan characterizations as well as having been ignored by their representatives for more than a decade.
The vice presidential pick said this frustration has inspired voters to back Trump because he is the GOP’s last chance to elect a leader who has the base’s interests in mind.
“Donald Trump understands the anxiety of the American people like no leader since Reagan and he’s given voice to that,” Pence said.
