WESTFIELD, Indiana — Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump isn’t mentioning who he plans to pick for vice president.
The New Yorker spoke to more than 4,000 supporters outside of Indianapolis at the Grand Park Events Center here on Tuesday night with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is rumored to be on Trump’s short list for the ticket.
NBC News is reporting Trump will announce his VP this Friday before heading to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next week. Trump reportedly has narrowed the list to Pence, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The Washington Times reported Sunday that Pence is “95 percent” likely to be Trump’s VP, but that news wasn’t announced Tuesday in Pence’s home state.
However, Trump did tease the crowd, saying, “You’ll be calling up Mike Pence, I don’t know if he’s going to be your governor or your vice president, who the hell knows.” The crowd cheered in response to Trump’s suggestion of Pence possibly being his VP.
Trump spoke mostly about law and order and stressed the need for safety in America.
“Our police are the best of our society,” Trump said after bringing up the tragedy in Dallas, Texas last week where several police officers were killed during a street protest. “They represent our highest ideals our greatest values and our most noble characteristics.”
“The hostility against our police has to end and it has to end right now,” the billionaire declared. “We have to stay together and we have to be strong.”
“Since President Obama became president, [there has been] almost 5,000 killings in Chicago,” Trump told the audience, which appeared surprised by the large number. “We’re going to start talking about it.”
“I am the law and order candidate,” he stated. “We need law and order and we need strength in this country. We don’t have strength in our country. We have crooked Hillary Clinton — as crooked as you get.”
Trump blamed Clinton for the threat of the Islamic State (ISIS). “She is the one that created it!”
“The greatest single thing in my opinion that she’s ever done is to get out of the email problem,” Trump said of Clinton. “It’s her greatest achievement.”
“Houdini couldn’t have gotten out of it,” he added, calling Clinton “incompetent.”
Trump also commented on Sanders’ endorsement of Clinton earlier in the day, calling it “strange.”
“I want to tell you a lot of Bernie Sanders people are so upset about it they’re going to be voting for Trump,” the billionaire predicted.
The presumptive Republican nominee and Pence attended a fundraiser together before the campaign rally. Prior to either taking the stage, Pence’s deputy campaign manager Marc Lotter told Breitbart News, “Indiana needs a partner in Washington who will support job growth, support our troops and appoint commonsense conservative justices to the Supreme Court.”
Pence, who introduced Trump at the rally, told his fellow hoosiers, “we’re ready” to put a builder and a patriot in the White House. “We are 119 days away from a great victory in the United States of America.”
Pence, referencing FBI director James Comey who said Clinton was extremely careless with her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state, told the thousands of supporters, “I think it would be extremely careless to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States.”