Republican Dan Crenshaw Offers Surprising Defense of 'Democrat Spin Machines'
Congressman-elect Dan Crenshaw of Texas pushed back against President Donald Trump’s suggestion that NBC should face legal action for defamation in light of its news coverage and the network’s “Democrat spin machines” like Saturday Night Life.
Trump tweeted on Sunday morning, “A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live. It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?”
The president’s tweet came after a Saturday Night Live “cold open” the previous night, which envisioned a country where Trump (played by Alec Baldwin) had lost to Hillary Clinton, which was themed after the Christmas film classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
In the alternative reality, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Sanders, Michael Cohen (Ben Stiller), and Brett Kavanaugh (Matt Damon), and Robert Mueller (Robert De Niro) are all happier without Trump in the White House.
Melania Trump is too, having divorced her husband and started her own real estate development company.
In the angel guide’s estimation, Trump learns the wrong lesson from seeing what might have been, when he fervently requests to be president again in the same way George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) asks to live again in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Crenshaw replied to Trump’s tweet about NBC, writing, “Yes, the media deliberately misleads and spins. It’s legal, and it needs to remain legal. The 1st Amendment is the backbone of American exceptionalism.”
Yes, the media deliberately misleads and spins. It’s legal, and it needs to remain legal. The 1st Amendment is the backbone of American exceptionalism. https://t.co/arNwbQsZgL
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) December 17, 2018
The Texan came to the president’s defense last month on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” when Democratic Congresswoman-elect Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania charged that Trump is “undermining the free press.”
“How has he undermined the press?” Crenshaw asked. “Obama had many press members under investigation; Trump has not.”
(The exchange starts at 19:36)
Congressman-elect Joe Neguse of California cited the White House revoking CNN reporter’s Jim Acosta’s press pass.
Crenshaw countered that was one reporter, not the entire network, and it was because he was “disruptive.”
The former Navy SEAL made headlines last month, when he appeared on SNL to accept the apology of cast member Pete Davidson, who had mocked his eye patch.
Crenshaw lost his right eye in Afghanistan in 2012, when an improvised explosive device detonated close to him.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
