NEW ORLEANS — Vice President Mike Pence spent much of Thursday afternoon and evening in the New Orleans area.
The vice president landed in Kenner a few minutes after 3:00, more than 20 minutes ahead of schedule. He’d spent the first part of the day in the Houston area and joined people there to mark the one year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey.
At Armstrong International, a crowd of about 100 people was waiting to greet Pence. Congressman Steve Scalise and other officials waited for the vice president has he descended the steps of Air Force Two. From there, Pence walked to the crowd to shake hands, sign autographs and pose in selfies.
“He told us congratulations. It was a wonderful experience,” Wiest told WGNO. “Hopefully we’ll be able to share the pictures with her later.”
Also in the crowd of well-wishers was the Carey family — Amy, Brandon, Aiden, and Luke.
“We went to take a photo with him and he said, ‘No, let me get in with you’,” Brandon said. “I handed my phone to the gentleman next to him, and he took a photo for us. That’s a good family shot with the vice president.”
From the airport, the vice president’s motorcade drove to the National World War Two Museum. Pence met with some WWII veterans there and then attended a fundraiser with Scalise and other GOP officials.
He told the veterans that it was an honor to meet them, and he thanked them for their service.
The fundraiser comes at a time when many political strategists say the GOP is in danger of losing its majority in the House, Senate, or both in the upcoming fall elections.
“We’re going to talk about what is a stake in this November’s election,” Scalise told the crowd as he spoke at the fundraiser and introduced Pence.
Pence told the crowd, “Thank you, Louisiana. Let’s go get it. Let’s make it happen in 2018.”
The event raised more than a million dollars for the campaigns of GOP candidates.