by WorldTribune Staff, November 5, 2018
Republican congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw fired back at Saturday Night Live after one the show’s cast members mocked the Texas candidate’s war wound.
On the Nov. 3 broadcast of SNL, Pete Davidson appeared on the “Weekend Update” segment to give his “first impressions” of some candidates ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections.
Davidson giggled as an image of Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who wears an eye-patch on his right eye after being injured by an IED in Afghanistan, was shown on the screen.
“You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hit man in a porno movie,” Davidson said. “I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war or whatever…”
Crenshaw responded on Nov. 4, tweeting: “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.”
In an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Nov. 5, Crenshaw called on Saturday Night Live and Davidson to donate $1 million to charity.
Crenshaw said he thought that what Davidson “and maybe the producers at SNL should do is pool their money together – let’s throw a figure out there, a million dollars – and let’s donate that to a series of veteran’s nonprofits. There are a lot of veterans that really need help, and frankly, this kind of thing is offensive to them. They feel laughed at.”
Crenshaw is running for Congress in Texas’ 2nd District. According to his campaign website, the GOP candidate did five tours of duty and lost his right eye when he was hit by an IED blast in Helmand province in 2012 during his third deployment. Surgeries restored sight in his left eye. He recovered and ultimately deployed twice more.
Crenshaw was medically retired in 2016 with two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart and the Navy Commendation Medal with Valor, according to his biography.
In the interview with CNN, Crenshaw said of the SNL skit: “The first part of that skit was just strange … The second part, I think, is when it just became dark. We have thick skin, but as veterans, it’s hard for us to understand why war wounds would elicit such raucous laughter from an audience. I think they should’ve rethought that joke a little bit – if you can even call it a joke.”
Crenshaw told CNN that he isn’t going to demand an apology from Davidson.
“I do not demand an apology. He probably should apologize. I don’t want some hollow apology.”
Crenshaw added of Davidson: “I think he’s exposed himself. I think he’s exposed himself for who he really is. I wish him well.”
Another Saturday Night Live cast member, Kenan Thompson, said Davidson’s mocking of Crenshaw’s injury “definitely missed the mark.”
Thompson said: “My father’s a veteran, Vietnam, and I personally would never necessarily go there, but it’s tough when you’re fishing for jokes – like that’s how standups feel like there’s no real filters out there in the world when they’re trying to go for a great joke or whatever and we try to respect that but at the same time, when you miss the mark, you’re offending people so you have to really be a little more aware in my opinion.”
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