Mike Pence Booed as He Defends U.S. Support for Ukraine

Former Vice President Mike Pence was jeered at a conservative gathering in Iowa on Friday after defending continued support from the United States to Ukraine as the war-torn country continues to fend off an invasion by Russia.

While being interviewed by conservative media personality Tucker Carlson at the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, Pence—who recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv—pushed back on assertions that the U.S. should reduce its levels of military aid to Ukraine. The former vice president, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, even faced boos from the audience after committing that he would support the Ukrainian war effort if he's elected president.

"What I saw in Ukraine was evil. And I believe that it is in the interest of the United States of America to continue to give the Ukrainian military the resources that they need to repel the Russian invasion and restore their sovereignty," Pence said before being booed by some in the audience while some applause could also be heard.

Newsweek has reached out to Pence's campaign for comment via email.

Since January 2021, the U.S. has invested more than $42 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, according to a recent memo from the U.S. Department of State, $41.3 million of which came after Russia's invasion that started last February.

Carlson, who has been regularly accused of echoing the Kremlin's talking points about the Russia-Ukraine war during his tenure at Fox News, initiated other dialogues about Ukraine throughout the day's events, which featured one-on-one interviews with several 2024 presidential candidates.

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, another candidate vying for the Republican nomination, faced criticism by some on social media after attempting to dodge a question from Carlson over a plan to end the conflict, with the senator failing to either endorse or condemn either sides' terms for peace after intense questioning from the former Fox News host.

However, Pence stood firm on Friday, saying he believed there was no negotiation with Russia or Russian President Vladimir Putin that involved any capitulation to Moscow.

"I've met Vladimir Putin," the former vice president said. "If Vladimir Putin overruns Ukraine then I have no doubt that the Russian military will cross the borders of a NATO country that our military will have to defend."

Pence's answers are notably at-odds with some members of the Republican field, however. In terms of the Russia-Ukraine war, candidates have been critical both of an overseas military engagement with seemingly no exit strategy, the concern of a broader conflict, and the large sums of money the U.S. has provided to fund the war—the latter of which businessman Vivek Ramaswamy mentioned during a recent interview with ABC News' This Week.

Former President Donald Trump—who has drawn criticism by some for his close relationship with Putin—has pledged to bring a hasty end to the conflict if he's reelected president. Meanwhile, Florida Governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis recently said on conservative talk show host Howie Carr's program that he would not "want to do anything that's going to escalate this conflict," a seeming jab at President Joe Biden's recent controversial decision to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs.

Others have stressed a desire to return focus to U.S. domestic policy, and leave Europe to sort out its own problems. On an amendment vote for the federal government's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday, for example, nearly 100 Republicans in Congress voted to cut $300 million from the U.S. appropriation to Ukraine, reflecting a growing sentiment of fatigue brewing within the GOP.

Pence, however, sees U.S. domestic interests and foreign interests as inexorably connected and not mutually exclusive.

"Anybody that says we can't be the leader of the free world and solve our problems at home has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on earth," he said Friday. "We can do both."