Trump Says Mike Pence Asked For His Permission To Endorse Paul Ryan

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Any reports of a “fissure” on the GOP presidential ticket after Indiana Gov. Mike Pence endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) when Donald Trump refused to do so are lies spread by the “dishonest” media, Donald Trump said Thursday.

Trump lavished praise on Pence at a town hall in Portland, Maine and emphasized the “great relationship” they have before saying the governor called him yesterday to ask for his blessing to endorse Ryan.

“[Pence] came to me, he called me, because he likes Paul Ryan, Paul Ryan’s a good guy,” Trump began. He shut down mild boos from the crwod at the mention of Ryan’s name by saying, “Nope, he’s a good guy.”

“Mike called me, and he said yesterday, ‘Would you mind if I endorsed? I won’t do that if it’s going to cause any complications, I would absolutely not do that,’” Trump said. “He’s the greatest guy, the greatest human being.”

The real estate mogul recounted Pence saying: “‘I like [Ryan]. He’s a friend of mine. Would you mind if I endorsed him? And I will not do it if you say no.'”

He continued: “I say, ‘Mike, you like, him, yes. Go ahead and do it, 100 percent.’ And he endorsed him.”

Pence’s endorsement of Ryan, which came one day after Trump said he’s “not quite there yet” on an endorsement of the House speaker, was read as a sign of Pence being out of step with his running mate. But Pence denied in a Fox News interview that the endorsement shows he is at all out of sync with the nominee and said he consulted Trump ahead of time.

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