As the national debate shifted to national security and foreign policy in the wake of the horrific terror attack in Paris on Friday, Republican presidential candidate John Kasich urged his rivals not to use the attacks to advance their campaigns.

While presenting his foreign policy approach during an address – followed by a Q&A session – at the National Press Club in DC Tuesday, Kasich said he didn’t think it was “appropriate” for his fellow Republicans “to be injecting a political campaign into what the world’s experiencing.”

“We have to be careful that we don’t use this as an opportunity by anybody to advance a candidacy,” the Ohio Governor cautioned. “Let’s get through this period of time and then over time, it’ll be appropriate what experience means when we’re talking about [serving as] commander in chief of the United States of America.”

However, in a new online ad released on Tuesday, his campaign actually touted his experience sitting on the Armed Services Committee as a plus in the crowded field of candidates. “On-the-job training for president of the United States doesn’t work,” Kasich says in the ad. “We’ve done it for eight years. It does not work.”

Asked about the contradiction between his remarks and actions, Kasich played dumb. “I didn’t know they did that,” he said. “I don’t know what’s behind it.”

During his remarks, Kasich also called for a new federal agency to wage “a war of ideas” that would defend U.S. values abroad in addition to military action. According to the Republican presidential hopeful’s proposal, the agency would have “a clear mandate to promote the core Judeo-Christian values that we and our allies share.”