Donald Trump held a rally to introduce his VP pick Mike Pence on Saturday, but he had a few other things to get to first.

In a winding opening address, Trump's praise of Pence was interspersed with attacks on Hillary Clinton, promises to right numerous wrongs of President Barack Obama and recountings of his victories over rivals during the GOP primary and after.


After 30 minutes, Trump exited the stage to let Pence speak. 12 minutes later, Pence was finished and Trump was back. The two jointly waved to the Manhattan crowd and left shortly thereafter.

When he did reference Pence, Trump spoke glowingly. He is "a man of honor, character and honesty," Trump said.

"I found the leader who will help us deliver a safe society and a prosperous, really prosperous society for all Americans. Indiana governor Mike pence was my first choice,” Trump said at a rally in Manhattan. “I also admire the fact that he fights for the people and he's going to fight for you."

Pence returned the praise for Trump, saying he was the leader the country needed and painting a series of contrasts between the presumptive GOP nominee and Hillary Clinton.

“The stakes could not be higher. Americans can choose a leader who will fight to make America safe and prosperous again, and bring real change, or we can elect someone who literally personifies the failed establishment in Washington D.C.,” Pence said before joining in on Trump's signature phrase. “Let's come together as a party and a people and a movement to make America great again.”

But much of the running mate introduction event was taken up by Trump's diversions into other topic. Trump segued away from Pence to question Hillary Clinton's character and hammer her over her email server — saying she "got away with murder" by escaping indictment — and rip her foreign policy, saying her policies were "directly responsible" for the creation of ISIS.

"These are crimes. These are crimes. And how she got away with it, I think I understand it, but I think a lot of people don’t," Trump said. "But I do believe, while she didn’t pay the price she should have paid, she’s going to pay that price when November 8 rolls around. She’s going to pay it at the polls."

He further segued into a discussion of his victories in the GOP primary, his allies' recent romp over the "Never Trump" movement during the writing of the convention rules and his thoughts on religion freedom before pivoting: "Alright. Back to Mike Pence."

Trump continued speaking for 10 minutes after that, again mixing Pence praise with topics such as the economy, religious freedom and his own business record.

Trump's announcement of Pence Friday on Twitter capped a suspenseful 24 hours that began Thursday morning when reports began to surface that the Indiana governor would join the ticket. The Trump campaign fought back against those stories with promises that no decision had been made, but Pence’s flight aboard a private plane to New York Thursday evening seemed to confirm that he was Trump’s selection.

Trump was initially slated to hold an event with his VP pick Friday, but late Thursday night he postponed the rally, citing the terrorist attack in Nice, France.

Whether or not Trump is fully confident in Pence as his running mate remains a matter of contention. Just hours after the Manhattan billionaire announced his vice presidential selection Friday, the New York Times and others reported that Trump talked to his advisers late Thursday evening to question whether picking Pence was the right choice — and even fielded a final appeal from VP contender Chris Christie. Saturday morning, the podium at Trump's rally showed only his name, not the much maligned campaign logo with the interlocking letters T and P unveiled on Friday.

But on Saturday morning, Trump tweeted that he was looking forward to introducing Pence, who was “my first choice from the start!”

The addition of Pence, a strong social conservative who served in the House of Representatives before running for governor, seemed to assuage some concern amongst Trump’s critics in the Republican Party. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said Thursday that picking Pence would be the “best choice Donald Trump’s made so far” and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) praised the Indiana governor on Twitter as “rock solid.”

"I'm hearing very good things about him from my colleagues and it appears he is solid,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), another Trump doubter, said of Pence on Friday. "I need to learn more about him.”

But Pence’s introduction to the presidential campaign also carries with it some baggage that Democrats and liberal groups enthusiastically brought up as news of the governor’s ascendance to the ticket broke. Pence ignited a national firestorm in 2015 when he signed a bill called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, legislation that critics said would legalize discrimination against gays and lesbians in Indiana.

Pence later signed an amendment to “clarify” the law, a move that angered some evangelicals, but Democrats still worked to characterize the Indiana governor as an enemy of the LGBT community.

“Donald Trump just doubled down on his agenda of hate and discrimination by choosing the notoriously anti-LGBTQ Mike Pence for his ticket,” Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a blog post on the organization’s website. “Mike Pence has never left any question about his animus toward LGBTQ people, from peddling a hateful and damaging ‘right to discriminate bill’ in Indiana last year, to his longstanding opposition to marriage equality — positions shared by Donald Trump.”