Eleven-year-old Matthew Stricker asked GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence — at his town hall in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday — if his "role in the administration" would entail "softening up" running mate Donald Trump's rhetoric.
"I've been watching the news lately and I've been noticing lately that you've been kind of softening up on Mr. Trump's policies and words," Stricker began. "Is this going to be your role in the administration?"
Pence was at first jolted before answering, "Sometimes things don't always come out like you mean," referring to Trump's off-the-cuff campaigning style.
"Donald Trump and I are absolutely determined to work together," he continued. "We have different styles, you might have noticed that. I said at our convention, I said, you know we nominated someone larger than life, known for charisma. So they wanted to kind of balance the ticket."
Stricker — a Trump fan who attended the event with his mother — told CNN afterwards, he "wanted to make sure Pence was in the race for [the] right reasons."
"I just wanted to see if [he] was actually with Trump or if he was just like, or if he was just sort of doing it for himself," he said. "My concern was he wasn't going full on on Trump's views, and I was a little worried that he was softening up a little bit."
"It's kind of sad trying to challenge one of your allies," he added, "but I just wanted to be sure what his views are."
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