POLITICS

Pence staying on ticket after Trump's debate performance

Tony Cook, and Chelsea Schneider
IndyStar
Mike Goril, of Lake Geneva, Wis., holds a sign for Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump and running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence during the entirety of the 1st Congressional District Republican Party of Wisconsin's Fall Fest in Elkhorn on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. (Anthony Wahl/The Janesville Gazette via AP)

If Mike Pence had any doubts about staying on the ticket with Donald Trump, they appear to have been erased by Sunday night’s presidential debate.

Pence congratulated Trump on Twitter for “a big debate win” and said he was “proud to stand” with the Republican presidential candidate.

Pence’s support comes after the Indiana governor pulled out of a campaign appearance on Saturday and said he could not condone Trump’s lewd and sexually aggressive comments about women in a 2005 video that surfaced Friday.

The video has prompted many Republicans to rescind their support for Trump. Some have called for him to step aside to allow Pence to become the nominee, while others have said Pence should withdraw from the race to preserve his reputation.

Over the weekend, sources close to Pence told IndyStar that he was holding his options open while taking a wait-and-see approach to the debate.

Apparently, Pence liked what he saw as he watched with his family from the governor’s residence in Indianapolis.

A Pence campaign source told IndyStar after the debate that the governor was “100 percent” staying on the ticket until Nov. 8.

During the debate -- Trump’s first public appearance since the video surfaced on Friday -- he said his 2005 comments amounted to “locker room talk,” and that he had apologized to his family and the American people. He said he has “tremendous respect” for women and “women have respect for me.”

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Trump also said he never carried out the actions he described in his comments, which included a reference to grabbing women by the crotch.

“Yes, I’m very embarrassed by it. I hate it, but it’s locker room talk,” Trump said before pivoting away from the video to say he would “knock the hell out of ISIS.”

Pence’s continued support for Trump comes even after a new disagreement emerged between the two during the debate.

Pence has said in recent days that America should be prepared to use force to strike military targets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

But during the debate, Trump said he disagreed with his running mate’s stance.

“I don’t like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS,” Trump said.

When pressed on Pence’s views, Trump replied: “He and I haven’t spoken, and I disagree.”

Some anti-Trump Republicans criticized Trump for the exchange.

“And there you have it – Trump throws Pence under the bus,” said Erick Erickson, an influential conservative blogger who opposes Trump.

“Mike Pence, meet the bus,” Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, said on Twitter.

Pence’s first scheduled public appearance since the video broke is Monday in Charlotte, N.C. The format is a town hall meeting, so it’s possible Pence could get asked a question about the newly surfaced video or the disagreement over Syria.

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IndyStar's Washington D.C. reporter Maureen Groppe contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.