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Michigan GOP delegates like choice of Pence for VP

steve carmody
/
Michigan Radio
Next week, Cleveland will play host to the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate is getting approving nods from Michigan delegates in Cleveland.

Trump announced his decision over his favorite medium: Twitter.

Trump says he'll hold a news conference on Saturday morning. He had originally planned to announce his running mate on Friday. But he delayed the announcement because of the attacks in Nice, France, late Thursday. Pence had already flown to New York before Trump announced the postponement.

The buzz in Cleveland is now all about Gov. Mike Pence.

Grand Rapids delegate Matt Hall says the pick shows Trump is “making a play” for Midwest votes, including those in Michigan.

He says Trump’s attacks on NAFTA and other trade deals are connecting with Michigan voters.

“And so to bring in a Midwest governor like Gov. Pence, where they’ve had their own issues with Carrier, it really demonstrates that Mr. Trump is making a play for the Midwest in states like Indiana, Michigan and Ohio,” says Hall.

But Michigan AFL-CIO president Ron Bieber is blasting the Pence pick. Bieber’s main complaint centers on Pence’s opposition to the auto bailout that guided GM and Chrysler through bankruptcy.

“When the fate of Michigan’s economy was in the balance, Mike Pence stabbed working people here in the back,” Bieber says in a written statement. “By voting against the auto rescue, Mike Pence voted to let Michigan’s auto industry crumble. Without that rescue package, hundreds of thousands of Michigan workers would’ve lost their jobs.”

The Clinton campaign is also taking shots at the Pence pick. 

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta says Pence is "an incredibly divisive and unpopular figure."

Podesta says Pence is known for supporting what Podesta calls "discriminatory politics and failed economic policies that favor millionaires and corporations over working families."

Steve Carmody has been a reporter for Michigan Public since 2005. Steve previously worked at public radio and television stations in Florida, Oklahoma and Kentucky, and also has extensive experience in commercial broadcasting.
The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.
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