A new political ad produced by a super PAC supporting former Vice President Mike Pence attacks former President Trump for supposedly being too friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“America doesn’t stand with thugs and dictators. We confront them. Or at least we used to,” a narrator says at the beginning of the 30-second spot while video footage shows Trump shaking hands and posing for photos with Putin and North Korean President Kim Jong Un.
The ad wraps up with an audio clip of Pence stating, “There can be no room in the leadership of the Republican Party for apologists for Putin. There can only be room for champions of freedom.”
Pence visited Ukraine last week and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country has been at war with Russia for more than a year, NBC News reported.
According to a RealClear Politics national polling average that includes all declared candidates running to be the Republican presidential nominee, Pence trails Trump by more than 45 points. The former vice president even trails Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is averaging 20.9% support.
Pence has seemingly staked out a position as a foreign policy hawk, casting himself as a hardliner in contrast to both Trump and DeSantis.
“With all due respect, I think the former president and the governor of Florida just don’t understand Americans’ national interest in supporting the Ukrainian military in repelling the Russian military in Ukraine,” Pence told the Associated Press earlier in July.
Even when pressed in interviews, Trump has avoided taking a side in the Russia-Ukraine war, instead focusing his comments on the importance of ending the bloodshed, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Andrew Napolitano commented on Real America’s Voice that instead of having gone to Ukraine, “[Pence] should spend his time in New Hampshire where Donald Trump is beating him 51% to 5%.” New Hampshire is the second primary after the Iowa caucus.
The latest pro-Pence ad was produced by the super PAC Committed to America and is scheduled to run in Iowa in the runup to the caucus, according to the Washington Examiner.
