Posted on 07/14/2016 7:19:54 PM PDT by bd476
July 14, 2016, 08:57 pm
The Hill
Christie: Initial Cruz endorsement shouldn't ‘disqualify’ Pence from VP
By Mark Hensch
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he has no room to criticize fellow Trump vice president contender Indiana Gov. Mike Pence for initially endorsing Ted Cruz during the primaries.
“I mean, he made a judgment at the time,” Christie told MSNBC in a Thursday interview. "You’d have to ask why he endorsed Ted Cruz at the time that he did. I don’t know. But I don’t think that should disqualify you.
“Because if you had a different choice early in the 17-person race, you had a different choice. I did – it shouldn’t preclude you from being considered as to who’s best to help us win this race and who’s best to serve the country once we get done.”
“Donald Trump wasn’t my first choice for president,” added Christie, a former GOP presidential primary rival against Trump. "I was, right? I don’t think we should hold that against Mike.”
Christie said he respects Pence despite the competition for the Trump VP slot.
“Mike Pence is a very good guy. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s a good man. He’s smart. And he’s a very able governor," he said.
Christie and Pence are widely considered finalists on Trump’s shortlist for the vice presidency, along with former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).
Multiple reports emerged earlier Thursday Trump plans on publicly revealing Pence as his running mate soon.
Trump later that evening postponed revealing his final decision, set for a Friday morning news conference, after a deadly attack in Nice, France.
Pence notably praised Trump while endorsing Cruz in May. He ultimately backed Trump instead after the billionaire won Indiana's GOP presidential primary.
Chris....now did you see the vote count between you and Cruz??!!! What a bozo. Sincerely hope Trump does not select him as VP. Pence is great news...
Hope Trump knows what he is doing? Shouldn't stories like this been part of the vetting process?
National Review has learned that the senator will hold a one-hour private meeting with Indiana governor Mike Pence prior to this Thursday’s Indianapolis GOP spring dinner, where he is scheduled to deliver a speech and sit at the governor’s table. The two first discussed these plans on a phone call last Friday, sources say.
Cruz would love to lock down Pence’s endorsement, knowing that the governor’s network could lend him a significant organizational edge in the state — just as Scott Walker’s did in Wisconsin. But sources say Pence, who loathes Trump, nonetheless has deep concerns about wading into the presidential race amid his own fight for re-election. If Pence doesn’t come on board, Cruz’s team is planning to deploy its next best option: Walker himself, who is a known commodity in Indiana and will likely be used as a surrogate there.
Cruz won’t be alone. There is preliminary talk of Cruz assembling a high-profile team of GOP surrogates and bringing them to Indiana, according to sources familiar with the Cruz campaign’s internal deliberations. The goal would be to project unprecedented party unity against Trump with a roster of supporters that, in addition to familiar faces such as Walker and Carly Fiorina, could include Jeb Bush or even Mitt Romney.
http://hotair.com/archives/2016/04/20/coming-soon-to-team-cruz-in-indiana-jeb-bush-andor-mitt-romney/
Mike Pence endorses Ted Cruz - CNNPolitics.com - CNN.com Gov. Mike Pence's tweet bashing Trump's proposed Muslim ban resurfaces:
Governor Mike Pence ✔ @GovPence
Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional.
7:30 AM - 8 Dec 2015
Pence didn't even endorse Trump during the primary. Something seems off with their fast new friendship. Too bad. Obviously Newt and even Sessions were much more loyal to Trump for months.
That's the part that is alarming. It wasn't at the beginning of the race with 17 people still in. It was in the Indiana, the make or break state needed to stop Trump. Pence was reluctant because he is and always will be a Bushie. He is very close to Jeb and was likely going to be Jeb's VP. So he reluctantly supporters Cruz based on pressure from Romney and the Koch brothers, and his friends the Bush family said he had no other choice than to support Cruz in an effort to stop Trump.
More and more stories are going to surface in how Pence was probably a Never Trumper before he was asked to be VP. That will be a sad day and embarrassing for Trump. He barely knows the guy. Sessions would have been a better pick. Same with Newt.
I think Pence wanted the religious freedom support he believed could be garnered through Cruz. Having been politically forced to backtrack on his religious freedom initiative must have been humiliating (let alone all the opprobrium that many conservatives heaped on him for that).
I think Trump made him a promise he couldn’t resist.
You should tweet that to Trump, since you’re spamming every VP thread with it.
That appears to be the sentiment of many.
Shut your piehole Christie.
Shut your piehole Christie.
I agree with Christie. Indeed, I believe that one of the strategic reasons that Pence was chosen is that he will be able to effectively make the case for those conservatives and independents who still have doubts about Donald Trump, and may have been Cruz supporters initially.
Pence will be able to explain that, even though he half-heartedly endorsed Cruz in the Indiana Primary, Donald Trump has "won him over", and he'll be able to attract many wavering voters who have tempramental issues with Donald Trump. Pence will also help provide strength to the ticket across the Midwest, and help to get many traditional conservatives to the polls.
I think this choice by Trump is a highly strategic one which will help him significantly with many voters who haven't yet fully embraced Trump.
I believe that Pence's speech at the convention could be a pivotal moment in the campaign.
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