SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 26, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Gov. Mike Pence, GOP vice presidential nominee, arrived to uproarious cheers Wednesday afternoon on his Salt Lake City campaign stop.
“Hello, Utah. Thank you so much,” Pence said, boosting the crowd’s excitement and volume even higher. “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.”
Pence spent the next 46 minutes delivering a speech that reinforced those values to the hundreds-strong audience — most of them presumably Christian, conservative and Republican — at the Infinity Event Center, near downtown Salt Lake City.
Indiana Gov. Pence also found plenty of time to praise Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and to attack the record and character of Hillary Clinton, Democratic presidential nominee.
Pence described Trump as “a man who never quits.” Pence said he saw Trump as the winner of the final presidential debate despite opposing opinions by many political analysts and members of the media.
Pence accused the media of bias favoring Clinton.
“I get up every morning, and I got to turn on the television with a stick,” Pence joked. “I don’t know what’s going to be there. The national media does half of Hillary’s work for her.”
Pence did not address the fact that much of the coverage in recent weeks has focused on a number of women who have accused Trump of sexual improprieties, and on a 2005 “Access Hollywood” video of bragging of his ability, due to his celebrity status, to kiss or grab women without their consent.
Trump dismissed his words on the video as “locker room talk,” and he denied the allegations of women who have accused him of taking sexual liberties. Trump has said he intends to sue the women once the election is over.
Pence said a Hillary Clinton White House would be no improvement on the last eight years with President Barack Obama. Pence said putting Trump in the Oval Office would lead to “a stronger America,” with better national security and economic prosperity, and one that “upholds our strongest Constitutional ideals, so I stand with Donald Trump and every American ready to make America great again.”
Pence said Trump plans to increase trade, but to keep American jobs at home. Trump will decrease taxes and eliminate Obamacare, Pence said, and “… repeal every unconstitutional executive order (issued by Obama) on day one.”
Pence accused Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, of “fast and loose ethics,” and referenced missing emails from the private server Hillary Clinton used during her years as secretary of state. Pence accused her of being anti-religion and of flagging personal friends for contracting jobs to be awarded in Haiti.
“Donald Trump has got a plan to restore honesty, responsibility and change,” Pence said. “The man who wrote ‘The Art of the Deal’ has got a deal for this country.”
Pence also stressed several times that Trump and Clinton were the only two viable candidates for the presidency, and a vote for any of the Independent candidates was like a vote for Clinton.
Although many polls and analysts have predicted Clinton as the election’s winner, Pence said, “Don’t buy it, Utah. This race is on…She may have the media, the money and the special interests on her side, but Donald Trump and I have, we have got a basket of Americans that are saying ‘enough is enough.'”
“I want you to vote early, bring a friend and spread the word,” Pence said.
He wrapped up his speech with another appeal.
“So, men and women of Utah, we’ve got 12 and a half days, and we’ve got a rendezvous with destiny. I make you a promise that this man (Trump) is ready, this team is ready, this movement is ready.
“If you go out and make sure Utah is ready, we will elect Donald Trump as 45th president of the United States. Let’s get it done, Utah, and God bless you.”
