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Former Vice President Mike Pence met on Thursday with Ukrainian refugees flooding into Poland as they escaped Russia’s military assault of their country.
Pence, who has condemned Russian leader Vladimir Putin‘s deadly invasion, was in Ukraine along its border with Poland. The former vice president was in the Eastern European nation on the same day that his successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, was in Poland showcasing U.S. support for its NATO allies.
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“The impact of the Russian invasion on these families is heartbreaking and the need for support is great,” Pence emphasized in a tweet.
Pence was accompanied by his wife, former second lady Karen Pence. The two traveled to the region with Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian humanitarian organization. They were joined by the group’s vice president of operations, Edward Graham, who’s the son of the organization’s president, the nationally known evangelical pastor Franklin Graham.
“We encourage everyone to pray and contribute to @SamaritansPurse and other relief organizations today,” Pence tweeted. “Let’s stand together as one with the people of Ukraine.”
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The former vice president explained that they were there “to meet with Ukrainian women and children seeking refuge from war. 2.4 million refugees have already fled Ukraine and nearly 400,000 have already come through the Korczowa border crossing.”
Volunteer Oleksandr Osetynskyi holds a Ukrainian flag and directs refugees at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, Monday, March 7, 2022.
(AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Pence, who’s mulling a 2024 GOP presidential nomination run, is on an overseas trip that also took him to Israel on Wednesday.
The former vice president last week made headlines regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, when he told a Republican National Committee gathering of top donors that “there is no room in this party for apologists for Putin. There is only room for champions of freedom.”
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A Republican source in the room at Friday night’s appearance by Pence in New Orleans, Louisiana, told Fox News that the line received applause from the audience at the event, which was closed to press.
Pence didn’t refer to former President Donald Trump by name in his comments, but his targeting of those in the GOP who haven’t fully condemned Putin follows remarks made last month by Pence’s former boss describing Putin’s “genius” and “savvy” in launching the attack.
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At a speech two weeks ago at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, Trump re-emphasized his stance toward the Russian leader, telling the crowd that Putin was “smart.”
But Trump has also argued that he was “tough” on Putin during his four years in the White House and has repeatedly claimed that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he were still president. In recent days the former president’s also described the horrific pictures of Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians as a “holocaust.”