After holding a Chicago fundraiser Tuesday, Donald Trump headed to Indianapolis to meet Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a meeting that has raised speculation the GOP presidential candidate may announce the governor as his running mate.
Trump opened his remarks calling for an end to hostility against police as he remembered the five police officers slain in Dallas last week and acknowledged as "tough" the deaths of two men killed during encounters with police in Louisiana and Minnesota.
But Trump insisted that if the U.S. doesn't take care of its police, "we don't have a country anymore, we have a country in chaos." He also called himself "the law and order candidate," before pivoting to calling Democrat Hillary Clinton "crooked."
"The message must be delivered clearly, for all to clear: the hostility against our police has to end, and it has to end right now," Trump said at the rally in the Indianapolis suburb of Westfield.
The remarks came hours after President Barack Obama spoke at a memorial service for the slain Dallas police officers, seeking to address the fault lines in the country between police and protesters by saying "we are not as divided as we seem."
The remarks also came hours after a high-ticket fundraiser was held at the Trump Tower in Chicago, GOP sources said, though the invitation did not list the location of the event. Trump was expecting to take in more than $1 million in campaign fundraising help from the pricey event, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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Pence, who introduced Trump at the rally, is one of several names being suggested as possible vice-presidential picks Trump could make. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are also on the shortlist.
Adding to the intrigue, there are several published reports that a private jet flew from Pence’s hometown of Columbus, Indiana to Westchester County, New York, close to one of Trump’s golf courses, on Sunday.
Before serving as governor, Pence was a congressman for more than 10 years and was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012.
While working as a private attorney, in the 1980s Pence also hosted a radio talk show in Indianapolis. He and his wife have three children. His grandfather, whom Pence is named for, was a Chicago bus driver who emigrated to Ellis Island from Ireland.
Still, Trump left the vice president question unanswered during his speech Tuesday.
"I don't know whether [Pence] is going to be your governor or your vice president," he said. "Who the hell knows."
