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Donald Trump reportedly picks Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as VP

14 July 2016 21:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Multiple reports on Thursday indicated that Donald Trump is set to pick Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, a decision he is expected to formally announce Friday morning, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Citing unnamed sources close to the campaign, both Roll Call and CBS News reported Trump was expected to offer Pence the job in a phone call Thursday afternoon. The New York Times also reported that campaign officials had “signaled” to Republicans in Washington that Pence was Trump’s pick. And the Indianapolis Star, Pence’s hometown paper, also reported the Indiana governor was Trump’s pick, citing unnamed sources.

But Trump campaign officials quickly tried to tamp down those reports. “A decision has not been made by Mr. Trump. He will be making a decision in the future,” Jason Miller, a spokesman for the Republican presidential nominee, said on Twitter. A spokesman for Pence did not respond to an email requesting comment, but the governor’s deputy campaign manager for his reelection campaign was spotted by reporters on a flight from Indianapolis to New York on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, sources told NBC News that Trump had not made a decision and that there was a split among members of the Trump family over whom the candidate should pick. Donald Trump Jr. told NBC that three choices remained and his father would make the decision sometime Thursday afternoon.

At the same time, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said to be on Trump’s shortlist, said in a Facebook video that he had not yet heard from the presumptive Republican nominee about his VP choice. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another finalist, similarly told MSNBC he had not heard from Trump.

The last-minute intrigue over Trump’s running mate came after a whirlwind two weeks in which Trump held what amounted to public auditions for the job. Last week, the New York real estate mogul appeared with Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker — who subsequently took himself out of the running for the position. That appearance was followed by a joint rally with Gingrich in Cincinnati, while Christie introduced Trump at a policy speech Monday in Virginia Beach, Va.