Comedian Pete Davidson (pictured above left) showed over the weekend just how low and unfunny “Saturday Night Live” is willing to go when he mocked ex-Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw (above right) — who is currently running for Congress in Texas — for an injury he received while serving his country in Afghanistan.
Crenshaw lost his right eye after he was hit by an IED (improvised explosive device) in 2012.
During the “Weekend Update” segment of the show — always reliably leftist — Davidson had a picture of Crenshaw shown, and then he said, “You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate for Texas and not a hit man in a porno movie.”
He then added, “I’m sorry. I know he lost his eye in war — or whatever.”
Peterson’s “joke” has earned him backlash on social media.
NBC News reporter Tom Winter responded to the joke on Twitter by saying, “No veteran should be mocked for their service. No veteran who lost an eye in an IED blast and then served two more tours should have that injury be a punchline. This ‘joke’ was disgusting and as the grandson of two WWII veterans I’m ashamed it was on NBC’s air.”
No veteran should be mocked for their service. No veteran who lost an eye in an IED blast and then served two more tours should have that injury be a punchline.
This 'joke' was disgusting and as the grandson of two WWII veterans I'm ashamed it was on NBC's air. https://t.co/lNhbppgAkA
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) November 5, 2018
“Saturday Night Live” airs on NBC.
Fellow “SNL” cast-member Kenan Thompson also went after Davidson for his joke and said the dig went too far.
“You know my father’s a veteran, [of] Vietnam, and I personally would never necessarily go there, but it’s tough when you’re fishing for jokes,” Thompson told NBC News.
“That’s how stand-ups feel, like there’s no real filters out there in the world when they try to go for a great joke or whatever. You know we try to respect that, but at the same time, when you miss the mark, you’re offending people,” he also said.
Other Twitter responses were just as unfavorable.
On NBC's Saturday Night Live, Pete Davidson mocks GOP Congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw for losing his eye in war: “You may be surprised to hear he’s a Congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porno movie. I’m sorry, I know he lost his eye in war, or whatever.” pic.twitter.com/krQwesqLAV
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 4, 2018
Woke Factor -4,389 https://t.co/0oP8bfD7yS
— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) November 4, 2018
Totally cheap, disgusting and classless of SNL to have Pete Davidson mock Dan Crenshaw for wearing an eye patch…then giggle that he was injured in the line of duty.@DanCrenshawTX is a Navy SEAL and hero who lost his eye in an IED attack in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/7VbMohQ3t2
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) November 4, 2018
Crenshaw himself responded to Davidson’s words with a public statement.
“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,” he said.
Crenshaw served three tours of duty in Afghanistan before losing his right eye.
After his recovery process, he served two more deployments in uniform.
The congressional candidate and veteran talked more about the matter in a CNN interview on Monday morning. He suggested that perhaps Davidson and “Saturday Night Live” might donate a large sum of money to veterans.
“I do not demand an apology. He probably should apologize, but I don’t want some hollow apology,” he said. “I think what [he] 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 veterans’ nonprofits.”
He added, “There’s a lot of veterans that really need help, and frankly, this kind of thing is offensive to them. They feel laughed at.”
And check out this video:
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