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The super PAC supporting former Vice President Mike Pence's presidential campaign launched its first TV ad on Thursday, zeroing in on Donald Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
The minute-long spot from the pro-Pence group, Committed to America, highlights Pence's role in certifying the 2020 election results, despite pressure from then-President Trump to overturn the election and a mob of pro-Trump supporters storming the Capitol, some of whom chanted for Pence to be hanged.
"A president begging him to ignore the Constitution. A mob shouting for him to die. And an anxious nation watching for one man to do what's right," a narrator says as footage of the attack plays.
"A weak man appeases a mob. A man of courage and character stands up to them. That day one man failed the test of leadership while another stood tall," the narrator says.
Committed to America shared the spot on Twitter, and a spokesperson for the group confirmed the full minute-long ad would air on TV.
The group has spent $190,000 on airtime on Fox News in Iowa, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact.
The ad also knocks Trump's comments on abortion and the war in Ukraine, with the narrator saying "this so-called leader has continued to abandon our conservative principles."
The new spot also comes as Pence himself has sharply criticized his former running mate, making the case in his campaign launch speech, "Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. And anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president again."
