The former Vice President Mike Pence was caught pretending to fill his pickup truck with gas in an unintentionally hilarious new campaign ad.
“Hey everybody. Mike Pence here,” the man of the people says in the video. “Remember $2 a gallon gas? I do. And then Joe Biden became president of the United States and launched his war on energy. Since that time, gasoline prices are up 60%, electricity prices are up 25%.”
The messaging is spot on. He’s absolutely right about gas prices. They are surging yet again – up nearly 30 cents/gallon in the last month – making Americans pine for the days of reasonable costs to make their vehicles operate.
But it was the delivery that caught the eye of some viewers.
Pence never actually squeezes the handle of the fuel pump during the ad. What’s worse, the gas pump continually beeps, prompting the user to choose their desired grade of fuel, something the former Vice President never does.
The incessant beeping can be heard throughout the nearly minute-long segment.
Lmao
Some consultant told Mike Pence it would be a good idea to pretend to gas up a pickup Truck for a campaign video
The pump is literally beeping the entire video with the “select fuel type” message ?pic.twitter.com/ftoeLauthr
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) August 8, 2023
RELATED: Pence’s Former NatSec Adviser Endorses Trump – Says His Old Boss Is ‘Unworthy Of The Presidency’
Pence Doesn’t Put Gas In His Truck
How the director of the Pence campaign ad didn’t simply prepare his client by saying before the shoot, “You’re going to talk and then actually pump gas – now … roll” is beyond me.
Perhaps they filmed several takes. There’s only so much gas you can put in the truck. And a pickup is going to require more than 60 seconds to fill.
But why not at least pretend to squeeze the handle? Why not choose the grade and then cancel the transaction so we don’t hear the beeping throughout?
Or maybe even just film the campaign ad standing in front of a gas pump? Or standing next to somebody who actually is pumping gas, and donating a kidney in order to be able to afford it?
No, man of the people here has to look like Navin Johnson at the local gas station.
These types of ads are so fake and cringe
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) August 8, 2023
Other Efforts To Relate To The Common Man
Pence’s gas station ad is reminiscent of other cringe-worthy efforts by politicians to seem like they can relate to the common everyday American.
Does anybody remember Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) super-awkward Instagram live chat session with supporters in which she tried her damndest to appear down to Earth with the common folk by cracking open a beer and hanging with her “sweetie,” husband Bruce?
Because face-planting drunk into a van at 11:00 in the morning worked so well for the last Democrat presidential candidate… pic.twitter.com/yGc8rOg0go
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 3, 2019
Then there was former Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, who pretended to be traversing the state in an RV to meet with the commoners. In reality, it seemed she was using a private plane.
In the you can’t make it up department: Sen. Claire McCaskill’s campaign said she was taking an RV trip. But her private plane seemed to take the same route as the bus. https://t.co/P9SSPxeTkd
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) June 12, 2018
The two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton struggled in her attempt to pretend she uses the subway.
Hillary Clinton tries, and fails, several times to swipe her MetroCard to get into the NYC subway – @abcpoliticshttps://t.co/VOoJ5MQxh2
— ABC News (@ABC) April 7, 2016
And remember when President George H.W. Bush was pilloried in the media for supposedly being baffled by modern equipment at the supermarket?
Pence’s problems are much bigger than an inability to work a gas pump. Last month he sparred with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his Ukraine-first approach.
Tucker: “Every city in America has become worse over the past few years… Your concern is that Ukraine don’t have enough tanks… Where’s the concern for America in that?”
Pence: “That’s not my concern.” pic.twitter.com/u2RlmmrhtM
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 14, 2023
More recently, he was blasted by conservatives for a blistering statement in support of the latest indictment of Donald Trump regarding the January 6th riot at the Capitol.
No Mike. That’s not what it shows. Did you read these charges? They’ve nothing to do with the Constitution. This is a shameful statement. https://t.co/x5Qn5pDIHt
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 2, 2023
Keith Kellogg, the former national security adviser to Vice President Pence, recently declared his old boss to be “unworthy of the presidency” and happily endorsed Trump in 2024.
Perhaps when his campaign is over, Pence can get a job back in Indiana actually using gas pumps at the local station.
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