The exchange comes ahead of the launch of Frydenberg's memoir, "A Grateful Son", which has fuelled speculation he will again contest the inner-Melbourne seat he lost to Ryan four years ago as part of the teal wave that swept several Liberal strongholds.
In extracts provided to The Australian, Frydenberg said Ryan's campaign had promised a kinder style of politics but instead dialled the personal vitriol "up to 11". He claimed hundreds of his signs were defaced with swastikas, his staff were bullied at polling stations, and posters branding him a traitor were erected.
"It was the hypocrisy. Ryan's supporters piously committed to a kinder, gentler style of politics, even as they waged a campaign thick with personal abuse," Frydenberg wrote. "The proposition was not merely that they were right and we were wrong; it was that they were good and we were bad."
Ryan did not directly address the abuse allegations but said Frydenberg was focused on the past. She was targeted in the 2025 election cycle when an ex-Proud Boy heckled her, according to reports.
The political climate remains tense ahead of the next federal election, due before mid-2028, with threats against MPs at record levels and the 2025 vote subject to a coordinated disruption operation from far-right figures.