Pence Mocked for Claiming He Had a Dramatic Confrontation With Vladimir Putin: ‘No One Believes This’

Former Vice President Mike Pence drew skepticism and ridicule after telling a tale about how he supposedly stood up to Vladimir Putin, face-to-face.

Pence gave his account of the confrontation with Putin during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, wherein the former VP criticized the Biden administration while calling for America to keep supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invading military. Pence described supporting Ukraine as an “essential” embrace of the Reagan doctrine and then told Hannity “I’ve stood closer than I am to you and looked Vladimir Putin right in the eye and told him things he didn’t want to hear.”

“If you think he’s going to stop, if he captures Ukraine, in re-establishing the old Soviet sphere, you’ve got another thing coming,” Pence continued. While Pence was uncertain whether Russia would try to invade Poland, he warned that other Eastern European countries would be at risk if Ukraine falls.

It isn’t clear what specific encounter with Putin that Pence was referencing, but the moment was circulated on Twitter, where political observers were doubtful — to say the least — that this confrontation happened like Pence described.