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RUSH:  We are thrilled to have with us Governor Pence — Mike Pence, Indiana governor — running for vice president, fresh off the debate last night. 

PENCE:  Hi, Rush!

RUSH:  Governor, I have to commend you. I don’t know how you did it. I don’t know how you kept your composure last night.  That was some of the rudest, beneath us —

PENCE: (chuckling)

RUSH: I’ve been telling the audience all day, I thought the whole thing was beneath the dignity of the American people, and you handled it magnificently, and I… How did you do it?  You had to just be — I don’t know — burning, frustrated at certain points —

PENCE: (chuckling)

RUSH: — wanting to just pop out of that, but you didn’t.  It was well done.

PENCE:  Well first, Rush, coming from you, that’s… I’m very humbled by that. Thank you very much, and I just… The encouragement we received… We had a great rally in Pennsylvania this morning, heading to campaign now in our campaign bus, and it’s just been very heartening to me.  My goal last night was to really talk about the issues that the American people are focused on, the vision Donald Trump has articulated to Make America Great Again means a stronger America at home and abroad.

It means a Supreme Court that will uphold the Constitution, and it also means that we’re gonna have the highest standards of integrity in the highest office in the land, and I wanted to make that case for my running mate, and I also wanted to draw the contrast.  But it… (chuckles) It was a vigorous debate, but, at the end of the day, I really do believe that Donald Trump won the debate. Donald Trump’s vision to Make America Great Again won the debate, and I truly do believe as we continue to carry his vision — that optimistic, forward-looking vision — we’re gonna drive forward the next 34 days and elect him as the 45th president of the United States.

RUSH:  Well, it’s interesting and fascinating to hear you say that, because I have been playing for the audience sound bites all day reading various new stories essentially saying that you did so well — that you so overshadowed Trump — that even though you won, he lost!

PENCE: (laughs)

RUSH: It’s fascinating, Governor. No matter how well you guys do, they always turn it into a Trump loss.

PENCE:  (laughing) That’s just standard operating procedure with the national media. (chuckling) But, look, Donald Trump called me right after the debate to congratulate me and we actually talked a couple times last night.  I’m very encouraged that some people think I won, but really I’m just telling you — I told the people in Virginia this today — from where I sat, Donald Trump won. He really did.  It was Donald Trump’s vision to Make America Great Again. It was Donald Trump’s vision to end illegal immigration once and for all.  You know, the whole debate, I have to tell you, I thought the moderator… I thought the moderator did a good job focusing on the issues the American people really care about. 

RUSH: (groans)

PENCE: We had a vigorous conversation about economic growth and, you know, what was in high relief is that Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are gonna raise taxes and Donald Trump and I are gonna cut taxes.  And the ability just to lay out to the American people the choice in this election, the failed foreign policy of which Hillary Clinton was the architect during her four years as secretary of state. And, of course, all of what has proceeded out of the Clinton Foundation. I just… These are all the things that this campaign has been taking to the American people.  It’s the reason why Donald Trump is attracting record crowds all over the United States. And, as I campaign with him and campaign for him, I just truly do believe that this is a movement of the American people. It’s a movement that speaks to the ideals that really have characterized your voice and your career throughout your many years in radio.

RUSH:  You truly are one of the most gracious and magnanimous… I mean, for you to say what you just said, you are truly… Not about me. I’m talking about the moderator and other things that happened last night. You are truly one of the most magnanimous and gracious men that we have in American politics today, because you just… You have that knack, Governor, and I need to applaud you for it.  I don’t have the ability to contain myself after an event like that the way you do.

PENCE: (laughing)  Well, don’t get it! (laughing)

RUSH:  Let me tell something —

PENCE:  You know, I’ve been a fan for a long time.

RUSH: (laughs) See, I don’t do the caffeine, you do.

PENCE:  (laughing)

RUSH: (laughing)

RUSH:  Wait, it’s the other way around: I do the caffeine and you don’t.  But here, look, here’s another thing —

PENCE:  I have to tell you, I really was incredibly humbled to be on that stage last night. When you think about my little family and my life — my grandfather immigrating to this country when he was my son’s age, my mom and dad building a small business in a small town in southern Indiana — for me to be there, I felt a great weight of responsibility. But, you know, a few minutes before I went out my wife looked at the me and she said, “Just remember, this is about the American people. This is about the country.” This country’s in a lot of trouble, and Donald Trump has really given voice to the aspirations and the frustrations of the American people like no one in my lifetime since Ronald Reagan. And for me to be some small part of that, being able to share his message, his vision, his passion, and the kind of president that he’s gonna be and Make America Great Again is just —

RUSH:  Well, let me tell you something else they’re saying, two more areas I want to share with you if you have time.

PENCE:  Yeah.  Sure.

RUSH:  One of the things… You laughed at the first one where Trump’s mad at you because you put pressure on him by making him have to work even harder this Sunday ’cause you did so well and that he lost because you won.

PENCE: (chuckling)

RUSH: Here’s the third thing they’re saying.  The third thing they’re saying is you actually weren’t trying to help Trump last night.  You already know Hillary’s gonna win so you were doing everything you did for 2020, Governor. 

PENCE: (laughing)

RUSH: Your 2020 campaign began last night. That’s what they’re saying in the Drive-By Media, Governor.

PENCE:  It is… You know, it’s what we’re used to.  I mean, look, I said in Virginia today at a rally, you know, most mornings I have to turn on the television with a stick.  You know, you just never know what’s gonna be there.

RUSH:  That’s right, with a stick.  (laughing)

PENCE:  It’s two on one every show with —

RUSH:  Wear latex gloves, exactly.

PENCE: — Hillary Clinton’s worked for, right?  Look, last night, again and again what he sought to do is make sure people saw exactly what Donald Trump’s vision Make America Great was all about, and I also wanted them to know what the choice was, what the other side was all about.  But I have to tell you, I thought the opportunity for us to really talk about solutions, a stronger America, those people and abroad, compared to really the avalanche of insults coming out of Hillary Clinton’s running mate last night. And then they said that we were running — did you get that phrase?

RUSH:  Yes.

PENCE:   “An insult-driven campaign.”

RUSH:  I saw it all. Yeah.

PENCE:  The American people, I hope in some small way last night that I helped to point out that Donald Trump is the one who’s articulating that optimistic, broad-shouldered vision that’s gonna revive our economy, rebuild our military, and have America standing tall in the world again. But I (garbled cell) days we have remaining in this campaign, we’re gonna continue to work shoulder to shoulder to elect this good man as the next great president of the United States.

RUSH:  We’re talking with Governor Pence following his debate performance last night with Senator Kaine.  Governor, I want to share with you what I told my audience at the beginning of the program today, what I saw last night in watching your opponent. It became clear to me that they are terrified of what you and Trump and a majority of the American people think.  They’re terrified. You were interrupted 72 times because —

PENCE:  Is that right?

RUSH:   — they do not trust to let the American people hear what you really think.  They’re afraid of it.  They’re not allowed… Their purpose is to not permit you to actually speak the things that you believe, ’cause they don’t trust the American people to elect them if they actually know what you and Trump and the rest of us stand for.  And that’s what I saw. I thought it was outrageous — and, again, you dealt with it masterfully.  I really do believe that we need to make America more like Mike Pence again.  That’s what I think, after watching you last night.  If American politics is what you were last night, then you would have had a lot more people and a lot more faith and trust in it.  And I’m not trying to embarrass you.  I really think that.

PENCE:  Well… Well, Trump, I’m — or excuse me. I’m just staggered by that.  Rush, I’m very humbled by those words, but I will tell you, I learn from Donald Trump every day, and last night and the ability to be out on that stage making the case for his vision, making the case for his leadership. You know, a moment that I remember from the debate was when Elaine looked at me and she said, “Well, what’s your strategy for dealing with, you know, a revived and more aggressive Russia?” And I just said, “Strength.” 

What Donald Trump personifies is American strength.  I said again today in Virginia, to be around him when the klieg lights are off… You’ve known him for a long time; you know I’m not exaggerating on this point.  The truth is the man embodies the American spirit.  He’s freedom-loving, independent, willing to fight for what he believes in, and I truly do believe — I truly do believe — that when we elect Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America, we’ll Make America Great Again, and I couldn’t be more humbled or more honored to be standing with him in this cause.

RUSH:  Well, look, I know where you’re coming from.  You grew up in Indiana; you’re now the governor, and you find yourself on the biggest stage in American politics, a presidential campaign. If it didn’t humble you, you wouldn’t be the kind of person that you are, and it’s all to your credit.  I think, Governor, you’ve gotten to know Mr. Trump quite well, obviously, and I think a lot of people are making the mistake of trying to plug Donald Trump into what they think average, ordinary, everyday politicians are.  He’s not a politician.

PENCE: (chuckling) Right!

RUSH: You made that point last night.

PENCE: (chuckling) Right.

RUSH:  He’s not a politician, and to try to plug him into that hole is to misunderstand who he is, such as when he gets attacked for this or that, he will fight. He’ll go right back at whoever does it instead of ignoring it, ’cause that’s who he is.  And it’s, by the way, something the Republican Party has not been doing for enough years that Republicans are frustrated by it.  Are you feeling good about where things are now, coming off the performance last night? Your crowds are over-the-top big and excited? Do you still feel the same energy in the campaign as when it started?

PENCE:  Oh, it grows every day.  Donald Trump and I talked last night. He was in Nevada, and this week you’re just seeing record crowds around him, and even when I do little rallies out there on my own, 500 and a thousand people that will come out and hear from me as I campaign for him. It really is… One of the things Donald says to me more often than anything else, and that is, when we’ll pull into a venue and you’ll see the enormous crowds, you’ll see the long lines. He’ll look at me and he’ll just say, “You know, Mike, this isn’t about me.  This isn’t about us.”  He says, “This is a movement, and it’s about this country, and it’s about the American people.”  And I think that’s what people sense about him.  This is a man, the day he walks into the Oval Office, he will be their champion. He’ll fight every day to make the country great again, and he’ll fight for the American people and for our nation to stand tall on the world stage and to have the kind of economy that will deliver jobs and opportunities for this generation and the next.

RUSH:  Where are you today? Where do you go the rest of the week and weekend?

PENCE:  Well, we didn’t get too much sleep last night (chuckling), but they put me right back to work.  I got on this campaign bus, and we had a great stop in Virginia not far from James Madison University, and now we’re headed up near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and I just couldn’t be more excited.  I mean, the enthusiasm that we’re seeing out there, literally, as we canvass the country gives me great confidence that if all of us do all we can — if we recognize that it’s two on one with the national media doing most of Hillary’s work for her every day — we go out, we tell our neighbors and our friends that we can make America great again, I really do believe that we’re gonna elect Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, and I’m gonna work my heart out to see that that happens.

RUSH:  Congratulations, Governor.  It was well done last night, and I’m flattered to have you on the program again today.

PENCE:  Thanks, Rush.

RUSH:  Best of luck.  You bet.

PENCE:  Thanks.  That means the world coming from you.  All the best.

RUSH:  You bet.  Thank you.

That’s Governor Pence fresh off the debate last night.  He means it when he says he’s humbled by this.  He really does.  He doesn’t take this for granted, it hasn’t gone to his head, and he’s truly humbled by the position he finds himself in.  This is rare air that these people breathe, running for president, running for vice president, being the nominee and the vice presidential nominee of your party.  It’s really, really rarefied air.  As you know, there have been, what, 43, 44 presidents, some of them served second terms, so there hasn’t really been that many. It’s a very, very small club of people.  

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