Mike Pence formally accepts VP nomination at the RNC

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Governor Mike Pence has gotten an enthusiastic response from Republican National Convention delegates for his vice presidential acceptance speech.

Pence took the stage in an arena still buzzing after Texas Senator Ted Cruz was loudly booed for not endorsing his primary rival Donald Trump during his convention speech. But the crowd quickly responded to Pence, who began by introducing himself “to those who don’t know me, which is most of you.” From there, he swung into a speech which alternated among praise for Trump, a vow to bring conservative principles to the White House,

and jabs at Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Pence calls Trump a “fighter” and a “no-nonsense leader,” and offered the beginnings of a more specific outline of what a Trump administration would look like. He says Trump would “squeeze every nickel” out of the federal bureaucracy, while labeling Clinton “America’s secretary of the status quo.” He says Republicans should celebrate a candidate who “doesn’t tiptoe around rules of political correctness,” while charging Clinton represents the opposite extreme.

Pence pointed to his record as governor, boasting about Indiana’s balanced budget, tax cuts and job growth. He declares, “Conservative principles have worked every time they’ve been tried.”

And he reminded delegates of Clinton’s exasperated “What difference, at this point, does it make?” response to senators’ questioning about details of the U.S. response to Benghazi, contending that alone “disqualifies” her from the presidency.

Indiana’s 57 delegates stood throughout Pence’s 40-minute speech, twice leading what turned into arena-wide chants of :”We Like Mike.” Trump emerged from the wings at the close of Cruz’s speech, then exited the stage to make way for Pence’s wife Karen, their three children, and Pence’s mother Nancy, who earned her own chants as the governor pointed her out in the crowd.