Donald Trump Jr. Blasts Tim Ryan for Shooting Gun in Campaign Ad: 'Fraud'

Just days before the midterm elections, Donald Trump Jr. mocked Democratic Ohio Senate candidate Tim Ryan for releasing a campaign advertisement of himself shooting a handgun.

Ryan, who currently serves as a U.S. congressman for Ohio's 13th District, is set to face off against Republican J.D. Vance, an author and venture capitalist, on Tuesday in one of the most closely watched Senate races of the midterms.

Despite Ohio shifting toward Republicans in recent election cycles, Ryan has managed to keep his GOP opponent in a tight race. He has sought to appeal to voters who backed former President Donald Trump in 2020 by highlighting times he has bucked the more liberal faction of the Democratic Party.

Ryan this week released a new campaign ad in which he shoots targets with a handgun—a trope more often seen in Republican advertising. At the end of the clip, he notes that his shooting skills are "not bad for a Democrat."

The video, which seeks to build his crossover appeal, was met with a chilly reception from some Republicans, including Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president and a supporter of Vance. Trump Jr. decried Ryan for being a "total fraud" in a Truth Social post about the advertisement.

"If Tim Ryan or any of his staff knew absolutely anything about shooting they would have not released this video," he wrote in the Sunday morning post. "Totally embarrassing. As with everything else, Tim Ryan is a total fraud."

The video was further ridiculed by other conservatives, who criticized his stance while firing the gun.

"Tim, in all honesty I'd invite you to come shoot with us and learn some basic form and gun safety. Leaning back like that is dangerous, and points to you being scared of the gun. You could trip and fall and lose control of the muzzle, which could result in an accident," tweeted former GOP congressional candidate Ross Schumann.

What Polls Say About Ohio's Senate Race

With only two days until the election, Vance has built a narrow lead against Ryan as Democrats have focused on more competitive races in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania. FiveThiryEight's aggregate of recent polling shows Vance holding a 3.9 percent lead, which is notably smaller than Trump's 2020 victory of 8.1 percentage points in Ohio.

A November 1 to 3 Cygnal poll conducted among 1,498 likely voters found Vance with a lead of six points. The poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percentage points, found 49 percent of respondents planning to vote for Vance, while 43 percent said they would vote for Ryan.

A Remington Research Group survey, conducted from November 1 to 2 among 1,125 likely voters, found Vance up by five points, winning support from 48 percent of respondents compared to Ryan's 43 percent. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

Ohio used to be seen as one of the most competitive battleground states, as former President Barack Obama carried the state in his 2008 and 2012 presidential runs. But in recent years, as Rust Belt voters flocked to Republicans, Ohio drifted away from Democrats.

In the gubernatorial race, incumbent GOP Governor Mike DeWine is expected to sail to an easy victory. But the state is also home to three highly competitive Congressional races that could help determine control of Congress.

Newsweek reached out to Ryan's campaign for comment.