WATCH: Dan Crenshaw Torches Freedom Caucus Republicans as ‘Grifters’ and ‘Performance Artists,’ Praises Adam Kinzinger

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Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) called out members of his own party during a new campaign event in Houston, Texas.

“There are two types of members of Congress: there is performance artists and there is legislators,” Crenshaw said Monday night. “Performance artists are the ones who get all of the attention, the ones you think are more conservative because they know how to say slogans real well. They know how to recite the lines that they know our voters want to hear.”

He then went on to call out members of the Freedom Caucus, which includes, among others, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Paul Gosar (R-AZ).

“What you hear so often is not true. It’s not true. We have grifters in our midst… I mean in the conservative movement. Lie after lie after lie because they know something psychologically about the conservative heart. We’re worried about what people are doing to do to us, what people are going to infringe upon us, that’s the nature of conservatism,” he continued.

He then pivoted to praise Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who is one of two Republicans sitting on the House Select Committee investigating January 6th. Kinzinger has been a target of former President Donald Trump and his followers despite — as Crenshaw notes — having voted with Trump 99 percent of the time.

Watch Crenshaw’s comments, from the Texas Liberty Alliance PAC event, below.

Crenshaw is a veteran and former Navy SEAL. While he has been a loyal supporter of Trump’s policies, he has also been something of an iconoclast within the GOP. These comments will only serve to reaffirm that reputation, and likely serve him well in national standing.

Correction: This story previously identified Dan Crenshaw as a former Green Beret. He is a former Navy SEAL.

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