Well, here’s a headline you don’t see every day: A TV reporter gets struck by a bullet fragment while covering a campaign event. That’s right. While U.S. Senate candidate Lucas Kunce, a Democrat, was doing some target practice with an AR-15 at a campaign stop near Kansas City, a stray fragment ricocheted off a target and hit reporter Ryan Gamboa in the arm. And who was there to witness the chaos? None other than former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the one-time Republican who now cozies up to Democrats like it’s going out of style.
Great day at the range today with my friend @AdamKinzinger. We got to hang out with some union workers while exercising our freedom. Always have your first aid kit handy. Shrapnel can always fly when you hit a target like today, and you’ve got to be ready to go. We had four first… pic.twitter.com/Qu4YxfrtrU
— Lucas Kunce (@LucasKunceMO) October 23, 2024
Kunce, the Democrat challenging Missouri’s Republican Senator Josh Hawley, quickly stepped in to help. After Gamboa started bleeding, Kunce whipped off his belt to make a makeshift tourniquet until proper medical tape could be applied. Points for quick thinking, I guess. But let’s be real—this isn’t exactly the type of press Kunce was hoping for. Imagine trying to position yourself as a “pro-gun Democrat” while a journalist gets hit during your gun range campaign event. Talk about irony.
https://twitter.com/abigailmarone/status/1848889640901660915
Thankfully, the reporter avoided serious injury and even managed to finish his coverage of the event. No harm, no foul? Well, except for the whole “getting hit by a bullet fragment” thing.
Kunce, a Marine Corps veteran, is attempting to unseat Hawley, but he’s got a mountain to climb. Polls show Hawley sitting comfortably at 51% compared to Kunce’s 40%. This mishap at the range probably isn’t going to help bridge that gap.
Of course, it didn’t take long for the social media sparring to kick off. Senator Hawley wasted no time mocking Kunce’s gun-handling skills, claiming his grandma is better with a firearm. Ouch.
Hawley added a final jab: “While Kunce was busy shooting at reporters, Erin and I were traveling the state,” alongside a video of his family hitting the campaign trail.
Kunce, not to be outdone, downplayed the incident, tweeting about hanging out with union workers and flexing his first-aid skills, reminding everyone to “always have your first aid kit handy.” Sure, because nothing says “prepared politician” like needing to patch up a reporter after a range day gone wrong.
Let’s just say, this isn’t the type of media attention Kunce probably wanted so close to election day.
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