Pences stunt, Its not Free Speech when taxpayers pay for it

The Trump Admin pulled yet another hypocritical political stunt over the weekend.
In order to pretend to be patriotic by saying the NFL protesters who take a knee during the Anthem are unpatriotic they staged a stunt and made you and me foot the bill for it.
It is not Free Speech when the taxpayer pays the bill.
Free Speech is when citizens speak their mind even if others do not agree and is a vital part of our country.  How much did this stunt cost us? Five hundred thousand?  A million?
Travel and staff costs for the VP, his team, and secret service protection and checking out the stadium would make this a pretty expensive ad.