In his first visit to Michigan as the GOP vice presidential nominee, Indiana Gov. Mike PENCE promised his neighbors to the north that a Trump Pence team would revitalize the economy the Indiana way, by cutting regulation and taxes. “He’s going to embrace and enact the kind of tax reform that’s going to unleash the real spirit of this country,” Pence told those in attendance at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex this afternoon. “We’re one of the highest-taxed countries in the world, Donald TRUMP is going to put our fiscal house in order.”
Pence hit many of the same themes raised during last week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, including raising the specter of Democratic nominee Hillary CLINTON‘s role in the Benghazi attacks that left four Americans dead.
“Seven-and-a-half years of Barack OBAMA and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has weakened this nation,” Pence said. “A Catholic priest murdered in his own church at the hands of ISIS and the next day, 61 speakers at the Democratic convention and not one of them mentions the name of ISIS.”
During a question-and-answer session, Pence was asked about “rolling back abortion.”
“I’m pro-life and I don’t apologize for it, OK,” Pence told the man. “I’ll tell you, I couldn’t be more proud standing shoulder to shoulder with the next pro-life president of the United States.”
Pence said the abortion question demonstrated the importance to Republicans of winning the White House and possibly the right to appoint up to three new members of the U.S. Supreme Court. “If we appoint strict constructionists to the Supreme Court, I believe we’ll see Roe v Wade retired to the ash heap of history.”
Asked about returning the U.S. economy to the kind of growth rates currently seen in Asian countries, Pence promised a Trump administration would “negotiate much smarter trade agreements.
“We’re all about free trade, at the same time, I promise you Donald Trump is going to cut taxes, cut regulation, repeal Obamacare and make America simply a better place to invest in jobs.”
Pence was expected to hold a similar town-hall style event in Novi Thursday evening.
In advance of the Grand Rapids event, Progress Michigan noted that under his leadership as governor, Indiana received a failing grade on transparency and accountability from the Center for Public Integrity. The group noted that Michigan suffered a similar rating.
“We’ve seen the damage that can be caused to a state when elected officials fail to live up to pledges of transparency and accountability, the disastrous Aramark contract and the Flint water crisis are examples of those broken promises,” said Lonnie SCOTT, executive director of Progress Michigan.