Dartmouth Republican State Committeeman Stars In Pro-Ukrainian Ad, Times Square Billboard

DARTMOUTH (WBSM) — A Dartmouth man has been appearing in commercials that seek to increase support for Ukraine with Republican voters.

Republican State Committeeman Brock Cordeiro has been appearing in advertisements created by the non-profit Defending Democracy Together as part of the "Republicans for Ukraine" campaign.

The $2 million campaign looks to increase support among Republican voters and lawmakers to back Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Cordeiro has appeared in television ads that will air during the Republican presidential debate tonight and on billboards in New York City's Times Square.

He said his decision to be a part of the "Republicans for Ukraine" campaign was because of his belief that the Republican Party has moved away from focusing on global issues under the presidency of Donald Trump.

"The United States cannot turn inward and either predominantly or solely focus upon domestic issues, as crucial as those are," Cordeiro said. "Just as the human body breathes with two lungs, the GOP must also equally breathe with both domestic and global policy and lead in doing what is right, just and moral."

As a Republican, Cordeiro said he was concerned that his party is less inclined to support Ukraine now than when the war started in February 2022.

According to a poll released by CNN in July, 71 percent of Republicans responded that Congress should not allocate more funding toward Ukraine.

Additionally, several Republican lawmakers, including Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida, supported decreasing and halting funding altogether to Ukraine.

"I firmly believe that a very loud and active core constituency either wishes to ignore the tragedy in progress or to intentionally turn away so that they need not have to deal with the brutal aggression," Cordeiro said.

"Some candidates and their supporters have subscribed to wild conspiracy theories and view Ukraine from a fractured prism of political expediency, and perhaps even vengeance due to the impeachment of former President Donald Trump," he said.

Cordeiro said he would not support former President Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or businessman Vivek Ramaswamy in the Republican primary.

He said their lack of commitment towards supporting Ukraine made them "more akin to the appeasement of England's former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain than they would ever be his successor, Winston Churchill."

Cordeiro said he has not decided who to support in the primary but expressed openness towards Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.

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John Conway, the director of strategy for Republicans for Ukraine, said Cordeiro's participation exemplifies the message the campaign is trying to send to Republican voters.

"There's a divide in the Republican Party, and our goal is to convince other Republicans not to cut and run, not to give up the fight, and not to abandon the strength and values that made the Republican Party and America great," Conway said. "Our group exists to remind Republicans of their best traditions and values."

Cordeiro said several Republicans in Bristol County have reached out to him and said they agreed with his views on the matter.

“The response that I have had, from fellow Massachusetts Republicans within Bristol County and beyond, has been overwhelmingly positive," he said. “I have received private messages of support but also expressions of how I have stated their own personal views and how they have not necessarily felt comfortable articulating them in the current climate of the GOP."