Mike Pence Meets With Donald Trump’s Family Amid VP Speculation

Indiana Governor Mike Pence met with Donald Trump’s children and his campaign manager this morning while many are wondering if Pence will be Donald Trump’s choice for a vice presidential candidate.

The group met at Mike Pence’s home even though Pence and Trump were supposed to fly to New York together Tuesday evening, according to the New York Times. Sources are claiming Donald Trump stayed in Indiana Tuesday evening because of technical issues with his plane, according to ABC News.

The Times claims Donald Trump’s children have had quite a bit of influence on his decisions, and they may need to approve of whichever vice presidential candidate he is considering choosing. Trump’s vice presidential pick will allegedly appear with him on stage on Friday.

Donald Trump has a few other possible vice presidential picks that have been discussed over the past few weeks and months. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has appeared with Trump on stage multiple times during the campaign, and he is considered a serious possibility for the position. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has also been considered a possibility.

Newt Gingrich has spoken in favor of Trump on several occasions, and he fits Trump’s desire to pick a vice presidential candidate who has extensive experience in Washington and politics, according to the Washington Post.

“I don’t need two anti-establishment people,” Trump said on Monday. “Someone respected by the establishment and liked by the establishment would be good for unification.”

Many have claimed that Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate could act as the policy expert that guides Trump since he does not have any experience in creating political policies. It remains to be seen if his anti-establishment supporters will accept that notion.

Newt Gingrich recently defended Donald Trump when there was controversy over an image Trump shared on Twitter that appeared to be using the Star of David in an anti-semitic way.

“I think it is so profoundly dishonest that it sickens me and makes me very angry,” Gingrich said, according to CNN.

Mike Pence is partially known for being governor while Indiana passed the extremely controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), according to MSNBC. That bill made it possible for business owners to deny service to people based on their sexual orientation. Many high-profile cases have made the news where a gay couple has been denied a wedding cake or other goods because of their sexual orientation.

After the law was passed and the governor received a lot of pushback from civil rights groups and other politicians, Pence amended the bill slightly, but many say it still allows for discrimination.

One advantage Mike Pence may have is that he is close with billionaire campaign funders the Koch brothers, according to Politico. That may cause an issue with voters who supported Trump because he said he didn’t want to take money from rich donors who could influence his policies. Many of the policies the Koch brothers support have become the policies in Indiana.

Some have argued Mike Pence is actually at risk of losing his job as governor if he does not become the vice presidential candidate instead, according to the Washington Post. They argue this may be why Pence has appeared to be lobbying for the job so hard recently.

It has also been pointed out that Mike Pence endorsed Ted Cruz before he endorsed Donald Trump, so there’s a possibility that could hurt his chances of being the vice presidential candidate.

[Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images]