He also talked about the need to ensure that a Republican president be the one to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Pence spoke for about 20 minutes, then took several questions from the audience.

When an audience member asked how he and Trump would help to “make amends” with Israel, calling it “our only ally in the Middle East,” Pence touted his time spent as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East. He said when Trump becomes president, “They will again know American strength, and if they know nothing else, they will know that America stands with Israel.”

“She is not only our ally in the Middle East, she is our most cherished ally in the entire world,” Pence said.

There were some clashes between supporters and critics at Trump’s event in March, including one in which Tucsonan Bryan Sanders said he was sucker-punched by a Trump supporter.

Sanders was also at the Pence event, but it was uneventful. One person was escorted out of the theater for disrupting Pence’s speech.

Richard A. Szilay, a Tucson veteran, was one of the few protesters outside.

Szilay was standing across the street from the Fox, holding an American flag upside down.

“We’re talking about American values, but when it comes time to pay the dues, we always distract ourselves with boisterousness,” he said, pointing to the Fox marquee with Pence’s name on it.

Sam Gross, a University of Arizona journalism student who is an apprentice at the Star, contributed to this story. Joe Ferguson can be reached at 573-4197 and JFerguson@tucson.com.

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