Jim Lamon, a Republican candidate for senator in Arizona, drew widespread condemnation on Thursday for a campaign ad in which he shoots at actors portraying President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
Lamon plays a gun-slinging sheriff who blasts weapons out of the Democrats’ hands in the Western movie-style spot. The 70-second commercial dubs Biden “Old Joe,” Pelosi “Crazyface,” and Kelly “Shifty.”
“The good people of Arizona have had enough of you. It’s time for a showdown,” Lamon says in the video that will reportedly air on television statewide on Sunday, including during the Super Bowl.
Blake Masters and Michael McGuire, two of Lamon’s GOP rivals in the race, led the chorus of criticism.
“Absurd and desperate,” Masters told The Arizona Republic. “Fits his campaign.”
“Real violence and use of deadly force is no laughing matter,” said McGuire. “Violence in America is real and it isn’t funny. This ad shows poor judgment and isn’t reflective of the values of the Second Amendment. This ad will do more to boost Mark Kelly’s fundraising than help Republicans.”
Others agreed, saying it was particularly egregious because Kelly’s wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), was seriously wounded in 2011 during a mass shooting.
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