New Bolton ad presses GOP candidates on national security

Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton will release a new online ad Tuesday as part of a six-figure buy in the early-voting states, urging Republican primary voters to make national security the top issue as they select a candidate in the coming months.

“It is critical that in this presidential election we talk about America’s place in the world,” Bolton says in the ad, first viewed by The Hill. “I would urge you to make the first hurdle whether they are capable of protecting the country internationally, but if they don’t pass the first test, they don’t deserve your support.”

{mosads}Bolton earlier this year passed on running for president, but he’s seeking to use his well-funded nonprofit group, The Foundation for American Security and Freedom, as well as his status as a respected Republican voice on foreign policy to influence the presidential race.

Bolton has consulted with several GOP candidates on national security, although he is not saying whom. 

His nonprofit group has run ads in the major newspapers of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, urging voters to apply “The Bolton Test” to the candidates to determine who is best equipped to lead on foreign policy matters.

Tuesday’s ad is the second of two online ads running in the four carve-out states.

“I understand there are many other important issues, but if the country is not safe, everything else is secondary,” Bolton says in the spot.