In introducing Mike Pence, Donald Trump keeps the spotlight on himself

The choice of a vice-presidential nominee is among the most important decisions that a presidential candidate makes, and the selection of Pence, a favorite among conservatives and many Republican Party insiders, could reshape the arc of Trump’s campaign.

But before Pence took the podium, Trump was onstage alone for about 28 minutes, occasionally mentioning Pence but more often going through his standard stump speech: attacking Hillary Clinton, re-hashing primary wins and touting business accomplishments.

Speaking at a midtown Manhattan hotel, Trump held the unofficial kickoff event to the Republican National Convention two days before it opens in Cleveland. Pence, Trump said, lowered the state’s employment rate from 8.4 percent to under five percent, and increased the labor force by more than 186,000 jobs.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who has refused to endorse Trump, tweeted that “Mike Pence is a good man”, and “he will add value to the ticket”.

The governor of IN was formally presented as Trump’s running mate Saturday, a day after Trump announced the choice on Twitter.

Priebus told “Fox News Sunday” that he expects Trump to bring a message of unity to this week’s convention, also working to attract women, young people and minorities into the party.

He bragged that they had been “crushed”. “Down, down, down. Here is somebody where it’s gone up”, Trump said.

After giving a shortened version of his usual stump speech, Trump introduced Gov. Pence.

Pence continued to state that Trump understands the American people and his “no nonsense leadership” is what the nation needs.

“The next vice president of the United States, Gov. Mike Pence“, Donald Trump said. But his hardline ideology is also at odds with Trump, who has largely avoided wading into social issues.

Pence is well-regarded by evangelical Christians, particularly after signing a law that critics said would allow businesses to deny service to gay people for religious reasons.

“I truly believe he will be outstanding in every way”, Trump said.

On finishing, Pence was embraced by members of his family, shook hands again with Trump and was kissed by the tycoon’s daughters before the two candidates stood, rather stiffly, side-by-side. He chuckled off attacks from Democrats, many of whom consider him “extreme”, and said that he’s “a conservative but I’m not in a bad mood about it”. Stahl asked. But Trump jumped in.

Mr Pence is well known for his strong socially-conservative credentials.

Priebus described Trump and Pence as being “somewhere in the middle of each other” and says Trump plans an engagement tour soon to attract Latino voters.