Pence’s group has launched an ad campaign opposing RFK Jr.’s nomination

An advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence launched a six-figure ad campaign on Wednesday opposing President Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Advancing American Freedom’s ad campaign, details of which were first shared with The Hill, includes digital ads that will run in the nation’s capital over the next several weeks as Kennedy awaits his confirmation hearing.

Advertising spending also includes a mobile billboard that will travel around Capitol Hill and the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion event that will take place on the National Mall on Friday.

The ads featured several controversial comments made by Kennedy.

One noted her past comments supporting access to abortion during pregnancy. Another noted misinformation shared about vaccines amid a measles outbreak in American Samoa. A third refers to his past comments claiming that polio vaccines are linked to cancer. And another ad notes that Kennedy argues that vaccines cause autism.

The ads also included a website address that directed viewers to a group whose letter urged senators to oppose Kennedy’s nomination.

Kennedy still has a confirmation hearing scheduled. His nomination has been scrutinized largely because of his anti-vaccine rhetoric. Thousands of doctors and public health officials signed the letter expressing concern about Kennedy.

But some senators have expressed support for his push to remove chemicals from food and reduce chronic disease across the country, wrapped in the slogan “make America healthy again.”

Kennedy has been meeting with dozens of senators on Capitol Hill in recent weeks. No Senate Republican has publicly said they will vote against the nomination, and Kennedy could lose three GOP votes if every Democrat opposes him.

The ad campaign marked a growing effort by Advancing American Freedom to oppose Kennedy’s nomination to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Shortly after Trump announced Kennedy’s nomination, Pence in a statement urged senators to reject him because of his previous support for abortion.

The organization sent a letter to senators last week urging them to vote against confirming Kennedy because of his past support for abortion.

“While RFK Jr. has made specific overtures to pro-life leaders that he will be aware of their concerns at HHS, there is little reason for confidence at this time,” the group’s leaders wrote.

Kennedy has tried to reassure Republicans by saying that his personal views don’t matter, and that he will be the first to implement all of the Trump administration’s anti-abortion policies.

Trump has repeatedly argued that abortion laws should be decided by individual states, criticizing some restrictive laws as too strict. At the same time, he took credit for nominating three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Pence has been outspoken for decades about his opposition to abortion, and has publicly criticized Trump for what he calls a “backsliding on the right to life.”