Pence: I never considered leaving Trump ticket

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said Monday that he did not consider leaving Donald Trump’s presidential ticket, saying it’s the “greatest honor of my life” to be nominated by the Republican Party as Trump’s running mate.

“You know I’ll always keep my conversations with Donald Trump and my family private. But it’s absolutely false to suggest that at any point in time we considered dropping off this ticket,” Pence told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota in an interview on “New Day.”

Pence was then asked if evidence surfaced that Trump had groped women, like he described in 2005, would he drop off the ticket. But he deflected to accusations against Bill Clinton.

“Alisyn, he said last night very clearly that that was talk, not actions. And I believe him and I think the contrast between that and what the Clintons were involved in 20 years ago – the four women that were present last night – was pretty dramatic,” Pence said.

Trump contradicted Pence on Syria policy in the debate, signaling a divide on foreign policy issues on the GOP ticket.

The Indiana governor dismissed speculation that the two were at odds on the issue.

“The question I had was about the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo,” Pence said. “And I think the way she had framed that was to suggest that I had implied we ought to use military power to achieve regime change and I had simply never said that,” he said, referring to moderator Martha Raddatz.

The Indiana governor went on to say the general election is a choice of “two futures.”

Pence signaled he will stick with Trump through the election, following his debate performance Sunday night in a tweet.

“Congrats to my running mate @realDonaldTrump on a big debate win! Proud to stand with you as we #MAGA,” Pence tweeted, using the acronym for “Make America Great Again.”

A top Pence aide confirmed Monday morning that the Indiana governor’s tweet means he plans to stick with Trump through the election, a little less than a month away.

Questions about Pence swirled after the release of a Washington Post story featuring lewd and sexually aggressive comments Trump made in 2005 about groping women that were caught on a hot mic.

Pence issued a stern statement denouncing Trump’s comments over the weekend and canceled plans to appear on Trump’s behalf in Wisconsin.