Indiana Gov. Mike Pence stressed the “consistency” between Donald Trump’s message and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s agenda on Tuesday.
The GOP vice presidential nominee, a former congressman from the Hoosier State, told reporters at Republican National Committee headquarters that his return to Washington and meeting with the House Republican conference was “emotional.”
“Donald Trump and I are so grateful for the support of members not just from this leadership but all across the country,” Pence said. “We’re very confident we can bring real change in real time.”
Pence’s emphasis on Republican support for the GOP ticket comes as his predecessor prepares to meet with one of their political opponents. Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican and Purdue University’s president, will meet with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson on Tuesday.
Daniels is a member of the Commission on Presidential Debates and has expressed a desire at seeing the Libertarian ticket compete against the Republicans on the debate stage this fall, according to the Indianapolis Star. Other prominent former Republican governors such as Massachusetts’ Mitt Romney and California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger have also urged for Johnson’s inclusion in the debates. As of Tuesday, Johnson has not met the polling threshold required by the commission to qualify as a candidate for the debate stage.
Daniels has eschewed partisan politics since joining Purdue University, and there are no signs that he intends to endorse the Libertarian. Julie Rosa, a Purdue assistant vice president, previously told the Washington Examiner that all three candidates on Indiana’s ballot — including Trump and Hillary Clinton — were invited to Tuesday’s event but only Johnson responded.
Marc Lotter, a Pence spokesman, told the Examiner on Tuesday the Trump-Pence campaign has not courted Daniels’ support.
“At Purdue he took a, I’m using a phrase he used, vow of political celibacy to remove himself from the political process while he served as president,” Lotter said. “So obviously it would not be something you would seek since he has vowed to remove himself from partisan activities as president at Purdue.”
Lotter added that it would be up to the Purdue Board of Trustees to determine whether the meeting with Johnson constituted a violation of Daniels’ political celibacy.
The first presidential debate is set for Sept. 26 in New York.
