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Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stresses that the right to pray “anytime and anywhere is fundamental” in the inaugural ad by his political action committee.
The digital spot was launched on Monday as the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, in a major opinion, ruled that public school officials have a constitutional right to pray publicly and to lead students in prayer during school events.
And the ad sparked more speculation about the likelihood of a Pompeo White House run in 2024, as the spot is running in Iowa and South Carolina, the first and third states to vote in the GOP presidential nominating calendar, and states where social conservative voters play an outsized role in Republican Party politics.
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“They’re not just words. They’re not just actions. They are the things that make us. They lift us, inspire us, save us,” Pompeo says in the ad over visuals of people praying. “I’m Mike Pompeo, and this is who we are. Together, let’s make sure our religious freedom and our right to pray are never canceled.”
Taking to Twitter after the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday morning, Pompeo emphasized that “our right to pray – anytime and anywhere – is fundamental. That right was affirmed today at our highest court in the Kennedy v. Bremerton decision. I am excited to build on this victory and continue securing our inalienable right to religious freedom!”
The ad is the first from Pompeo’s Champion American Values PAC, which the former congressman from Kansas, who served as CIA director and America’s top diplomat in the Trump administration, set up last year as a vehicle to help him travel the country in support of fellow Republicans running in November’s midterm elections.
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The political action committee is also known by its acronym, CAVPAC, which points to Pompeo’s service as an Army tank platoon leader and cavalry troop executive officer during the Cold War in Europe following his graduation from West Point. A source in Pompeo’s political orbit told Fox News to expect more ads from the committee.
Former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo speaks during the Family Leader summit in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, July 16, 2021. (Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Pompeo has made numerous trips to Iowa and South Carolina, as well as New Hampshire, which votes second in the GOP nominating calendar and holds the nation’s first presidential primary, and Nevada, which goes fourth in the Republican schedule, to help fellow Republicans. The friends and relationships forged now could pay dividends next year and in 2024 if Pompeo, who’s a Fox News contributor, eventually decides to launch a presidential campaign.
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While Pompeo’s spot appears to be one of the first ads by a possible 2024 White House contender, it’s not the very first one out of the gate. Those honors appear to go to Trump, whose Save America PAC went up with an ad in September criticizing President Biden for the turbulent and heavily criticized U.S. exit from Afghanistan.