When it comes to Donald Trump’s selection of Mike Pence as his running mate, things appear to have moved away from suspense and are now just plain tense.
In an odd and seemingly uncomfortable clip of an interview that aired Sunday night on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the two men headlining the GOP 2016 ticket appear to disagree on the upsides of running a negative campaign and convey an uneasy rapport with each other.
When journalist Lesley Stahl asked Pence what he thought “about your running mate’s campaign and the tone and negativity of it,” the notoriously conservative Indiana governor replied by avoiding the question.
“I think this is a good man who’s been talking about the issues the American people care about,” he said.
“But name calling, ‘Lyin’ Ted,'” Stahl interjected, referring to the condescending nickname Trump awarded to former rival Ted Cruz.
“In the essay that I wrote a long time ago, I said campaigning ought to be about something more important than just one candidate’s election,” Pence continued.
“And this campaign and Donald Trump’s candidacy has been about the issues the American people care about. They see America in decline at home and abroad … our porous borders, a Congress that’s been unable to balance its budgets, they want leadership in Washington, D.C., that will solve problems,” Pence added, before Trump awkwardly jumped in.
“Leslie, Leslie,” Trump cooed at the veteran broadcaster.
“We’re different people. I understand that,” he said about he and Pence.
“I’ll give you an example. Hillary Clinton is a liar,” Trump added plainly
“That’s negative,” Stahl responded.
“You better believe it,” Trump hit back sharply. “”Hillary Clinton is a crook. I call her ‘Crooked Hillary.'”
“He won’t,” Trump said, nodding to Pence. “He won’t. I didn’t ask him to do it, but I don’t think he should do it, because it’s different for him.”
The interview is the first Trump and Pence have done together since the mogul clumsily announced last week that the Indiana governor would be his running mate.
It was taped after Trump announced Friday that he had officially picked Pence.
However, while only a few days old, the newly announced Republican ticket has already experienced what appears myriad challenges.
Reports began leaking Thursday afternoon that Trump, who was rumored to have narrowed his list down to Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie and Pence, had settled on the Indiana governor as his choice.
But the businessman’s campaign neither confirmed nor denied the reports, instead repeatedly saying that Trump would make an announcement Friday in New York.
But Thursday evening, as reports rolled in from France about the devastating terror attack that left 84 dead and hundreds wounded, Trump postponed the announcement until Saturday.
Then, on Friday, he nevertheless tweeted his selection of Pence as his No. 2, despite moving forward with plans to hold his press conference on Saturday.
His campaign still went forward with the release of a suggestive logo that was so harshly criticized on social media that the campaign abandoned it a day later in favor of a simpler logo.
Further aggravating the mogul’s rollout were extraordinary reports alleging that Trump, as recently as late Thursday evening, was having second thoughts about his choice of Pence and was looking for ways to get out of it.
