--- title: Newt Gingrich: Mike Pence Would Have 'Midwestern Appeal' description: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich praised Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as a good pick for Donald Trump as running mate. canonical: https://time.com/4406836/donald-trump-running-mate-mike-pence-newt-gingrich/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-14T18:59:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:57.089Z article:section: Politics og:title: Gingrich: Pence Would Have 'Midwestern Appeal' og:description: He praised Trump's apparent running mate in a Facebook Live chat. og:url: https://time.com/4406836/donald-trump-running-mate-mike-pence-newt-gingrich/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b10b0a50c250aae/69889bfefb4eacdf5288e4a9/donald-trump-newt-gingrich1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R) introduces Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Sharonville Convention Center July 6, 2016, in Cincinnati, Ohio. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gingrich: Pence Would Have 'Midwestern Appeal' twitter:description: He praised Trump's apparent running mate in a Facebook Live chat. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b10b0a50c250aae/69889bfefb4eacdf5288e4a9/donald-trump-newt-gingrich1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Newt Gingrich: Mike Pence Would Have 'Midwestern Appeal' by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 14, 2016 6:59 PM UTC  Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R) introduces Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Sharonville Convention Center July 6, 2016, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R) introduces Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Sharonville Convention Center July 6, 2016, in Cincinnati, Ohio.John Sommers II—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 14, 2016 6:59 PM UTC When a potential vice presidential pick tries to explain the process of being the the veepstakes, he’s going to end up talking about[ everyone in the game](http://time.com/4402919/donald-trump-vice-president-chris-christie-newt-gingrich-mike-pence/?xid=tcoshare). Just ask former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who took to Facebook Live on Thursday, just hours after news broke that [Indiana Gov. Mike Pence](http://time.com/4406477/donald-trump-mike-pence-running-mate-vice-president/?xid=tcoshare) is likely presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick. While Gingrich sounded like he was still holding out hope—he promised to take to Facebook Live tomorrow after Trump’s announcement regardless of whether he is picked and promised to try to convince Pence to as well—the comments that stood out the most were the ones that were not even about him. “I think that Mike Pence would have a huge Midwestern appeal, so if you’re trying to compete for western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, there’s a certain value to an Indiana candidate,” Gingrich said. Gingrich called his own appeal national, adding that he had some appeal in virtually every state. “Mike Pence brings the qualities of having governed very successfully in Indiana,” Gingrich said while answering a question about what New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Pence would bring to the table if chosen as Trump’s running mate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4406836/donald-trump-running-mate-mike-pence-newt-gingrich/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4406836/donald-trump-running-mate-mike-pence-newt-gingrich/"},"headline":"Newt Gingrich: Mike Pence Would Have 'Midwestern Appeal'","datePublished":"2016-07-14T18:59:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:57.089Z","description":"Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich praised Indiana Gov. 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