Trump speaks his mind, Pence tells Ohio crowds, offering no apologies for recent remarks

CAMBRIDGE

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence isn’t shy about touting the accomplishments of his home state, but on Wednesday he turned the spotlight on his neighbor to the east.

Pence, seeking to become the next vice president of the United States, as Republican Donald Trump’s running mate, told a crowd of several hundred supporters Wednesday night in Guernsey County that Ohio will play a pivotal role in picking the next president.

“The Buckeye State is going to loom very large,” he said. “I mean, you always do. … You’re used to it . … I want you to leave here today ready to talk to your neighbors and friends. … The choice is in your hands.”

Pence spoke for about a half-hour in Cambridge, after a Dayton stop earlier in the day. He didn’t offer any apologies, either, for Trump or any of the comments the billionaire businessman has made of late.

“Donald Trump gets it, right? He’s a genuine article, he’s a distinctly American leader. He just speaks his heart and he speaks his mind, and he doesn’t go tiptoeing around,” Pence said. “He speaks straight from his mind, and the American people hear him loud and clear.”

Pence’s Cambridge visit came a day after the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute had Hillary Clinton up over Trump in a new survey of likely Ohio voters.

Read more of his remarks in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.