--- description: Donald Trump announced Mike Pence as his Vice President pick Saturday in a messy press conference following a bungled rollout of the choice. title: Donald Trump Introduces Mike Pence as Vice President Pick image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt848acd5b80142a9e/69889c2f0b72e32c866ea35e/mike-pence-donald-trump-running-mate-veeo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump Introduces Mike Pence as Vice President Pick  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 16, 2016 4:19 PM CUT  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, introduces Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., during a campaign event to announce Pence as the vice presidential running mate in New York City on July 16, 2016. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, introduces Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., during a campaign event to announce Pence as the vice presidential running mate in New York City on July 16, 2016.Evan Vucci—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 16, 2016 4:19 PM CUT Donald Trump formally announced Mike Pence as his Vice President pick Saturday in a messy event following a [drama-filled rollout](http://time.com/4409330/donald-trump-mike-pence-vice-president-2/ "undefined") of the selection. “Indiana Governor Mike Pence was my first choice,” Trump said in New York City, battling rumors that he had [eleventh hour doubts](http://time.com/4409330/donald-trump-mike-pence-vice-president-2/ "undefined") about Pence after his choice was leaked on Thursday. Pence, when he eventually appeared onstage, said he got the job offer from Trump on Wednesday (when TIME reports Trump also [called Jerry Falwell Jr.](http://time.com/4408435/donald-trump-mike-pence-vice-president/?xid=tcoshare "undefined")), addressing doubts that Trump was still making up his mind at the end of the week. But before Pence took the podium, Trump was onstage alone for about 28 minutes, occasionally mentioning Pence but more often going through his standard stump speech: attacking Hillary Clinton, re-hashing primary wins and touting business accomplishments. When Trump did mention Pence, he said, “One of the big reasons I chose Mike is party unity, I have to be honest.” After reading a script of Pence’s successes in Indiana, Trump ceded the stage to Pence, and the differences in the two men’s styles were thrown into sharp relief. Where Trump kept deviating from his prepared remarks, riffing in his usual freewheeling style, Pence stuck to a more traditional political speech and repeatedly highlighted his faith. He said his first thought when Trump offered him the vice presidency was, “Who am I, oh Lord?” and said that he’s “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.” The two men didn’t appear onstage together until the very end of the press conference, shaking hands before Pence went down a receiving line of handshakes of Trump’s family. But as TIME’s Alex Altman [wrote about the pick](http://time.com/4406477/donald-trump-mike-pence-running-mate-vice-president/?xid=tcoshare "undefined"), “Trump wasn’t hunting for a kindred spirit. By tapping Pence for the role, he’s getting a movement conservative out of central casting, a seasoned politician whose selection may soothe Republicans still skeptical that Trump is one of them.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4409358/donald-trump-mike-pence-vice-president-announcement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4409358/donald-trump-mike-pence-vice-president-announcement/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Introduces Mike Pence as Vice President Pick","datePublished":"2016-07-16T16:19:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:18:29.967Z","description":"\"One of the big reasons I chose Mike is party unity, I have to be honest\"","url":"https://time.com/4409358/donald-trump-mike-pence-vice-president-announcement/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt848acd5b80142a9e/69889c2f0b72e32c866ea35e/mike-pence-donald-trump-running-mate-veeo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt848acd5b80142a9e/69889c2f0b72e32c866ea35e/mike-pence-donald-trump-running-mate-veeo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mike Pence,Donald Trump","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, introduces Gov. 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