Dan Crenshaw Reminds Us That Pete Davidson, SNL Shouldn’t Apologize For Their Gross Mockery of Him

Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live mocked the appearance of a former Navy SEAL who lost his right eye from an IED attack in Afghanistan.

During a segment on “Weekend Update,” Pete Davidson offered his “first impressions” of some politicians (mostly Republicans, obviously) running in the 2018 midterms. He said Florida Governor and Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott looked like someone tried to “whittle Bruce Willis out of a penis” and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) looked like if a “cigar came to life.”  His jab at Texas congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw that was not only unfunny, but cruel as well.

“You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porno movie,” Davidson giggled as he read the joke from the cue card.”I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war, or whatever.”

Apparently, a veteran who wears an eyepatch after surviving a life-altering attack as he served our country is fair game for ridicule.

The joke drew backlash on social media. And it’s no surprise that Crenshaw had a classy response.

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

On Sunday, he had more to say to TMZ.

“I want us to get away from this culture where we demand an apology every time someone misspeaks. I think that would be very healthy for our nation to go in that direction. We don’t need to be outwardly outraged. I don’t need to demand apologies from them. They can do whatever they want, you know. They are feeling the heat from around the country right now and that’s fine.” Crenshaw said. “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 punch line for a bad joke.”

Crenshaw is absolutely right.

Davidson knows firsthand about sacrifice. His father was a NYC firefighter who died on 9/11, and as a comedian, he purposefully takes such sensitive subjects and injects his own brand of off-color humor. In this case, it was a cheap shot that wasn’t even funny. It was nasty and tone-deaf, but we shouldn’t just shoot the messenger. An entire staff of writers gave their stamp of approval to Davidson’s joke. And all of them ought to be embarrassed.

But the age of social media, it’s easy for the rest of us to express outrange with our fingertips. Mob mentality has empowered the most vocal on Twitter and led to bullying, silencing, and the destruction of careers.

In reaction to Davidson’s joke, many demanded for him and SNL to apologize to veterans across the country. Should they? Probably. But the onus is on them and not on us to force them to. To bully someone into making a half-hearted apology is almost as bad as them not giving one at all.

With incredible poise, Crenshaw was able to elevate the conversation and draw focus away from him. He spoke directly about the “culture” of getting even with those we disagree with politically — whether it’s demanding apologies or calling for boycotts or firings. Just this morning, Sean Spicer called for the firing of SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels. That’s completely absurd and such nonsense negates Crenshaw’s message.

Pete Davidson has the right to be offensive as a comedian and everyone has the right to react the way they want to react. That being said, we shouldn’t allow a bad joke, a bad gaffe, or a bad tweet define a person or their career. We should be able to express condemnation without pulling out the torches and pitchforks and be willing to offer forgiveness even to those who aren’t seeking it. The political climate is already at a boiling point and we should all do our part to lower the temperature. And that includes something as little as a reaction to an SNL skit.

Watch the clips above, via NBC and TMZ.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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