Josh Hawley Mocks Democratic Opponent For Gun Range Accident That Injured Reporter
HuffPost
The Republican senator tried to ridicule Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce. The Marine Corps veteran didn't take the attacks lying down.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) apparently finds shooting-related injuries funny.
One week after a St. Louis newspaper called him “the worst sitting senator in America,” Hawley mocked his Democratic general election opponent Lucas Kunce after a Kansas City TV reporter was injured by shrapnel at a local gun range in a campaign event mishap.
Their longstanding feud escalated Tuesday when KSHB reporter Ryan Gamboa was struck with a bullet fragment after Kunce fired a round at the shooting range. Hawley, a staunch gun rights advocate, used the incident as a political opportunity.
“I condemn all acts of violence against reporters and call on Kunce never to shoot another one,” Hawley wrote Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, before doubling down in another post: “I know the Kunce campaign needed a shot in the arm, but this is taking it a little far …”
Kunce held the campaign event with former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a noted Republican who has long distanced himself from the more radical factions of his party, and shared afterward that he used his training as a U.S. Marine veteran to treat Gamboa with a first-aid kit.