In the ad, Lamon is dressed as a Western sheriff who engages in a showdown with actors meant to represent President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. The Democrats—identified as “Old Joe,” “Crazyface Pelosi” and “Shifty Kelly”—are portrayed as outsider villains in the Western town setting. Lamon wards off their threat by shooting the guns out of their hands with his pistol.

The ad and its airing, which Lamon’s campaign told Newsweek will end up costing the candidate up to six figures, quickly drew outrage on social media. Many commenters noted that Kelly’s wife, Gabby Giffords, was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011, when she was a Democratic congresswoman. The commercial also had its defenders, though, with some saying the criticism was overblown since the ad shows Lamon disarming and not killing his adversaries.

The production costs for the ad ran in the tens of thousands. Lamon’s campaign said it spent more than $50,000 and less than $100,000 for the spot, plus paying for the ad to air locally and statewide. That brings the estimated final costs to around several hundreds of thousands of dollars. There was a price tag of between $25,000 and $30,000 for its showing in the local Tucson market alone during this Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Lamon’s campaign also provided Newsweek with a statement on Friday about the commercial and Kelly, Lamon’s would-be opponent should he secure the GOP nomination.

“Shifty Mark Kelly is under fire because he does whatever Joe Biden tells him to do—from refusing to stop the invasion on our border to out of control spending that’s led to 40-year high inflation,” the statement read. “Unlike Kelly, Jim Lamon will shoot straight with Arizonans and take the fight to Biden—and he damn sure won’t let the left bully him into backing down.”

Soon after the backlash against the ad began, Lamon followed up with a message on Twitter that defended the commercial. It read: “Left wing snowflakes can’t stand the fact that, for once, AZ will have a Senator who will shoot straight with them & stop cowering to Biden. Their feigned outrage over our new Super Bowl ad came right on cue—but I won’t be backing down.”

Lamon’s campaign told Newsweek the commercial will air on an NBC affiliate in Tucson as well as other broadcast channels and Fox News.

Newsweek contacted NBC for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.