Compassion???

Pence: Trump 'a man of compassion'

By MATTHEW NUSSBAUM

Donald Trump's weekend visit to flood-ravaged Louisiana shows he's “an encourager” and “a man of compassion," his running mate, Mike Pence, declared at a campaign rally Tuesday.

“It’s been so inspiring to be with him,” Pence said. “Last Friday, in Louisiana, in Baton Rouge, to be able to travel through those neighborhoods that had been destroyed by a hundred years flood, to see Donald Trump walk into the homes of people — one family, an 83-year-old man and his wife had seven feet of water in their home on a lot that he’d spent every day of his life, literally born in the house… And Donald Trump walked into that home, put his arms around that family and said, ‘You’re going to rebuild because I can tell the kind of people that you are.’"

"He’s an encourager, he’s a man of compassion.”

The portrayal added a softer touch to Pence’s typical description of Trump as a “broad shouldered” leader who eschews “political correctness” and will restore an assertiveness to American foreign policy and let “America be America and do America.”

The Trump campaign has argued that the Louisiana visit wasn't motivated by politics, and sought to make that point by not bringing along the candidate’s traveling press corps. But Republicans have been quick to wield the visit as a cudgel against President Barack Obama, who visited the state Tuesday.

“President Obama should have gone to Louisiana days ago, instead of golfing. Too little, too late!” Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning.

The Louisiana visit and an increasing use of teleprompters by the candidate known for controversial off-the-cuff remarks could be the influence of his new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, a seasoned GOP pollster.

Pence himself has pushed back against the narrative of a new Trump.

“I don’t think the message is changing at all,” Pence said in a recent interview on Fox News. “I think people are just getting to know Donald Trump better.”

Pence spoke Tuesday at Tech Tube, Inc., a company that manufactures alloys for tubing, after a brief tour of the facility.

“The road to the White House goes straight through Pennsylvania,” he told the crowd of about 100.

Tuesday’s trip marks Pence’s third to Pennsylvania since being named Trump’s running mate. A Republican has not carried the state since 1988.