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Pence’s advocacy group is launching a $10 million TV ad buy targeting vulnerable Democrats.
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It comes just days after he declared that there’s “no room in this party for apologists for Putin.”
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Trump has drawn criticism for declaring that Putin’s justification to invade Ukraine is “genius” and “savvy.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence’s political advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, is launching a $10 million television ad campaign targeting vulnerable Democrats across the country while bashing President Joe Biden over the war in Ukraine, multiple news outlets reported on Monday.
The high-profile ad campaign comes just days after Pence appeared to condemn President Donald Trump in an address to Republican donors in New Orleans on Friday. “There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin,” Pence declared.
Trump has faced blistering criticism for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification to invade Ukraine “genius” and “savvy.”
The ads, which will begin airing Monday, target 16 vulnerable House Democrats in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, including four in Texas, three in Pennsylvania, and others scattered across Oregon, Maine, Iowa, New Mexico, Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio, Kansas, and Arizona, Fox News reported.
The ad calls Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline upon assuming office in January 2021 “horrific,” saying that it increased American dependence on Russian oil and is “endangering American security” by “helping Russia fund their invasion.”
“In order to set the United States back on a path of energy independence, we need Congress to stand up to Putin and stand up for American energy,” Pence said in a statement, according to The Hill.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted last week that restarting construction of the Keystone pipeline “would have no impact” on the current oil and gas shortage because it would take years for the pipeline to be operational.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, the US imported roughly 12,500 barrels of Russian crude oil and other products in December 2021, accounting for just 4.7% of total imports. That’s down from a high of roughly 24,600 barrels in August, which amounted to 9% of imports.
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Meanwhile, momentum is already building on Capitol Hill to enact a ban on Russian oil imports to the US, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed the idea on Thursday. The White House is weighing a ban, but is concerned about the impact it would have on already elevated gas prices.
Pence, after keeping a relatively low-profile following the end of the Trump administration, is widely viewed as a likely 2024 presidential contender and in recent weeks has begun criticizing the former president more directly. In February, Pence told a crowd in Florida that Trump was “wrong” for believing that his vice president was able to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Advancing American Freedom is a “dark money” nonprofit group that is not required by law to disclose its funding sources. Its advisory board includes Republican Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and other former Trump administration officials and confidants.
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