A new television ad reached Iowa airwaves this week, and at first blush, it seems like the sort of commercial the public should expect from any of Donald Trump’s many critics — in both parties. The spot slams the former president for coddling foreign dictators, while making the case that the Republican’s foreign policy was fundamentally wrongheaded.
But what makes the message interesting was the messenger. The conservative Washington Times reported:
A super PAC supporting former Vice President Mike Pence’s presidential bid is out with a new TV ad criticizing former President Donald Trump for cozying up to “thugs and dictators” on the world stage. The Committed to America “Strength” ad will run on Fox News and online in Iowa and dings Mr. Trump for being an apologist for Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean despot Kim Jong-un.
If you haven’t seen it, here’s the spot:
Note, it features a series of familiar images, with Trump smiling and shaking hands with Putin and Kim, while referencing an incident from last month in which the Republican congratulated the North Korean dictator.
“America doesn’t stand with thugs and dictators,” a narrator tells viewers. “We confront them — or at least we used to.”
Soon after, the ad features an on-screen quote from Pence — “Weakness arouses evil” — while cutting to a speech in which the former vice president said, “There can be no room in the leadership of the Republican Party for apologists to Putin. There can only be room for champions of freedom.”
In other words, this is a relatively straightforward message for GOP primary voters: Pence sees Trump as an apologist for some of the nation’s most dangerous and dictatorial adversaries, so the super PAC supporting Pence’s campaign hopes voters will reject the former president and support the former vice president.
Is this a good ad? Sure. Is it an accurate message? Certainly. Should this be an area of vulnerability for the Republican frontrunner? I’d certainly like to think so.
But it’s the messenger that strikes me as problematic.
The Committed to America super PAC is dedicated to supporting Pence’s 2024 candidacy. While it can’t legally coordinate with the Hoosier’s actual campaign operation, it stands to reason that the super PAC wouldn’t air commercials in Iowa with a message Pence disapproved of.
And with this in mind, we’re left with an awkward dynamic: Pence was Trump’s vice president, and he seemed perfectly content to support the administration’s foreign policies for four years. Trump didn’t mind saying when he disagreed with Pence’s vision, but Pence refrained from taking similar steps.
If Pence was appalled by Trump’s willingness to stand by dictators, why did Pence stand silently by Trump?
