Crenshaw, GOP Rep Who Lost His Eye in Combat, Fires Back at SNL After Being Mocked for His Duty
Republican congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, whose loss of an eye in service to his country became the subject of a mocking comment on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live,” scolded the network for its bad taste, but said he did not want a meaningless apology.
“They certainly crossed the line, but their apology won’t mean anything to me,” said Crenshaw Monday during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
“They certainly crossed the line, but their apology won’t mean anything to me” –@DanCrenshawTX explains why he isn’t demanding an apology from SNL pic.twitter.com/mM7XttQIlh
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) November 5, 2018
Crenshaw is running for an open House seat in the Second District of Texas, which covers the Houston area. On Saturday, SNL cast member Pete Davidson cited Crenshaw while mocking various candidates around the country.
“This guy’s kinda cool, Dan Crenshaw,” Davidson said. A picture of Crenshaw, who wears an eye patch, appeared on the screen. “You may be surprised to hear that he’s a congressional candidate from Texas, and not a hitman in a porno movie.”
After some perfunctory and nervous laughter, Davidson added, “I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war, or whatever.”
On his campaign website, Crenshaw explained that he suffered eye damage during combat in Afghanistan.
“On Dan’s third deployment in 2012, his life changed forever. After six months of combat operations, Dan was hit by an IED blast during a mission in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was evacuated and awoke from his medically induced coma learning that his right eye had been destroyed in the blast and his left eye was still present, but badly damaged. Dan was completely blind and the doctors did not believe he would ever see again. Tara stood by him every day and night, keeping faith and praying he would see again. After several difficult surgeries, he eventually regained sight in his left eye, a miracle according to the head surgeon. Dan refused to quit and went on to deploy twice more, first back to the Middle East in 2014 and then South Korea in 2016,” the website said.
After SNL mocked him, Crenshaw did not ask for an apology, but castigated SNL for its actions.
Good rule in life: I try hard not to offend; I try harder not to be offended. That being said, I hope @nbcsnl recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 4, 2018
“I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies for every time a person misspeaks. I think that would be very healthy for our nation, to go in that direction,” he said in a video.
“But I would like him and ‘Saturday Night Live’ to recognize something. Which is that veterans across the country probably don’t feel as though their wounds they received in battle should be the subject of a bad punchline for a bad joke. And here’s the real atrocity in all this: it wasn’t even funny,” he said.
Many called out SNL for the failed attempt at humor.
What a disrespectful little punk. The pajama boys that mock men of real courage and patriotism always seem to be on the Left
Their side makes them feel brave for hashtags about 37 genders and Grammy speeches about racism
Meanwhile, Crenshaw is an actual ass kicking hero https://t.co/p5waucVGO6
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) November 4, 2018
The unhinged Left has respect for no one, including our nations war heroes. Utterly shameful that @nbcsnl is mocking Republican Congressional candidate and Navy Seal veteran @DanCrenshawTX for his sacrifice in the line of duty.https://t.co/D3Snni9BZC
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) November 4, 2018
Remember when political comedy was funny and people like Pete Davidson and Saturday Night Live didn’t have to resort to making fun of someone who lost their eye literally fighting terrorists? https://t.co/egVKx12Au5
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 4, 2018
While speaking Monday on “Fox & Friends,” Crenshaw challenged SNL to do more for veterans than mock them.
“I think what they should do is maybe pull their money together and donate to some veterans charities out there who could really use some help,” he said.
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