Arizona Republican Senate hopeful slammed as 'disgusting' for violent campaign ad

Jim Lamon, one of the MAGA Republicans competing in Arizona’s 2022 GOP U.S. Senate primary, is drawing criticism for a new campaign ad that depicts him shooting at President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly — who he is hoping to compete with in the general election, and whose wife, Gabby Giffords, survived an attempted murder in 2011.

The ad, which Lamon posted on Twitter on February 10, is made to look like one of Italian director Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns of the 1960s. Lamon plays a Clint Eastwood-like character, and the music recalls Ennio Morricone’s work in Leone movies like “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “A Fistful of Dollars.” Actors portraying Biden, Pelosi and Kelly, all clad in western attire, are described in the ad as “The D.C. Gang” — and Lamon shoots the guns out of their hands.

Lamon, also wearing western attire, declares, “The good people of Arizona have had enough of you. It’s time for a showdown.”

The Guardian’s Gloria Oladipo reports, “Criticism towards the ad has been swift, with many people pointing out other recent instances of violent imagery used by members of the Republican Party. Last November, Paul Gosar, Republican representative for Arizona, was officially censured by the House after sharing an animated video depicting him killing the Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking Biden.”

Shannon Watts, founder of the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, slammed the ad as “disgusting”:

Here are some more reactions to Lamon’s ad.: