Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise appearance at the Republican National Convention in Charlotte this morning.
Though most of the marquee convention events will now take place outside of Charlotte, several hundred delegates are still gathered there to conduct some official business, such as the roll-call vote to formally nominate the ticket.
Pence walked on the stage to the song “All Right Now” by the English rock band Free announcing “Hello, Charlotte!”
“I’m here for one reason and one reason only,” Pence told the cheering crowd. “Not just the Republican Party, but America, needs four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House.”
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who lost his reelection bid in 2018, delivered the formal nomination speech. Walker contrasted Pence with the Democratic nominee for vice president, California Sen. Kamala Harris, and touted Pence’s conservative bonafides.
“Mike Pence, a successful governor from America’s heartland, is the perfect partner for our president as they take on the Washington establishment — an establishment that Joe Biden’s been a part of for nearly 50 years,” Walker said. “That makes Joe Biden a creature of the swamp. Mike Pence is helping Donald Trump drain that swamp and we need them there for four more years.”
Walker was supposed to speak earlier in the program, but organizers held the speech for Pence’s in-person arrival later in the morning.
Trump and the party held out hope throughout the summer of having some form of a traditional, in-person convention, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Now, Trump will accept his party’s nomination in a speech later this week from the White House lawn.
